Satan Spawns and Assassins
by Lenasaurous
Summary: Magic was outlawed and we had to find new way of living, some of us chose... unusual options. However when I had to find a serial killer, with no choice in the matter, I didn't quite expect what would happen afterwards. Original (I think) NaLu fanfiction. All rights to their respective owners.
1. Chapter 1

**Wow, I'm finally using this account! I'm happy got around to it, finally. I actually can't believe how long it took me to pick a ship! I needed help… But yeah, this probably won't be as good as my main series over on Wattpad but this should be pretty fun to write. I like the idea and I'm pretty much in love with the love in here because it's gonna be really challenging to get around the barriers I'm gonna smash their faces in with. Oh well, let us put my violent tendencies aside! This story will be OOC, so sorry.**

**Disclaimer - I'm not Hiro Mashima the great (as we call him over in the FTA) and all rights belong to their respective owners. LET'S GET ON WITH THE STORY!**

* * *

Life for people like me has never been easy. Hell no. But for some reason, I enjoy being who I am. Doing what I do, professionally.

"Ow, shit" I started to suck on the finger I just cut. "Stupid dagger, how dare you fall out if your sheath!" I complained, jamming the blade back into its case.

"Only a bad artist blames his tools." The red head next to me commented. "Also, that's really childish Lucy." She pulled out a bottle of water and began to wash her hands with it. She was never a fan of having her hands dirtied, especially with blood.

"You're wasting it Erza! STOP IT!" Erza looked at me with a pretty fed up look, then just returned to her cleaning. I could hardly stop myself from lunging at her but being who I am, self-discipline is of upmost importance. She noticed my intent staring, and then turned to face me with her hand on her hip.

"Just lick your own hands; did you forget you dirtied yours too?" I looked down at my red hands and felt the urge to rip both off. Instead I just proceeded to lick the red from them, savouring the salty flavour and the thick texture. Yeah… everyone considers me a weirdo. Erza's one of the few people who talks to me on a daily basis.

* * *

It wasn't long before we got home, it never is. Master never trusts me and Erza with jobs too far away. We live in a guild-type-thing filled with people like us. I say that it's a guild-type-thing because being a guild sort of implies that people know you exist and that people join and leave and that shit, Fairy Tail isn't like that anymore. It used to a highly respected place but when our craft got outlawed… well, I guess we just went downhill from there.

Oh yeah our craft. We, at Fairy Tail originally specialized in wizardry. However, that died out. Nowadays no one uses magic as much because if we're caught using it we could be executed. Most of us took to business, others just took random jobs. Then there are people like myself, who took to doing exactly the same thing as was done in the old days but replaced magic with weapons… yep. My whole group does this. There is a reason my friends are my friends and no one else really looks at me, it's because of what we each do.

"Hey guys! So… how'd it go?" a black haired male came up to us with his hands in his pockets, topless.

"Gray, clothes," Erza said without a hint of bother in her voice. He shrugged and carried on his way to greet us. This guy is called Gray Fullbuster. He is a member of our little group. He is known around, everywhere, as the 'Ice Freak'. This is because of his favourite weapon. Now, he rarely has access to his favourite weapon but when he does, he becomes out of control. To everyone else in the world he is known as 'Ice Freak' because of an incident with the weapon. Due to the ban of magic, no one besides the guild knows how or why the incident happened; they just know that he froze half of a city. Personally; I enjoy calling him by his name… or Jack Frost. What's weirdest about him… is his stripping habit.

"It was fine… Lucy was happy with the outcome." Erza glanced at my fidgeting and rolled her eyes.

"Watch it Titania" She laughed at my threat because I wouldn't hurt her even if my life depended on it, she's one of my best friends, or as friendly as a person like me can get.

"I can imagine." Gray smirked and I pointed a knife I was playing with at him so he jokingly put his hands up. "Whoa there vamp, that's enough. Hide ya' fangs already." I bared my teeth and shoved the knife back into my belt.

"Did anything happen while we were gone?" I leaned in waiting for my answer. He leaned in too so we were face to face.

"Not really, but Master told me to tell you to go and see him once you were back." I jolted upright, and promptly made my way up to the second floor and Masters Office.

* * *

*BANG BANG BANG* I beat my hand on the door which was greeted by a 'Don't break the door in! Get in here!' I opened the wooden door and was greeted by an understanding face.

"I shouldn't expect anything less than a broken door from you Lucy. I see you're back." He rested he head on his hand and gestured for me to sit down.

"Well, I hadn't noticed," I retorted

"Don't be clever girl," Master warned. "Now the reason I asked Gray to send you up here was because I have something for you to do." This was surprising; Master was strongly against my choice in specialization.

"Really, I never thought you'd be the type to want someone dead Master" I rested my head on my hands and looked up at him innocently.

"No. I don't want this person dead; I want this person here, in front of me." He looked at me seriously. This old midget can be terrifying when he wants to be.

"Hey, dude. I'm an assassin, not a kidnapper. Sorry gramps, not for me." I waved my hands in a cross gesture as if to say 'out of the question'.

"No, Lucy. This isn't a request, this is an order. You _will _do this for me, no 'if's or 'but's about it." He somehow grew even more serious, making me uneasy.

"It's that serious, well I guess I don't have a choice in the matter then. Who am I getting for ya?"

"I don't know." The old man looked at me blankly while my face morphed into one of pure shock.

"What do you mean you don't know you old fart!?" I stood up suddenly, causing the chair I was sitting on to topple over. I could practically feel the steam coming out of my ears.

"What I mean is I don't know their appearance. This is why I chose you instead of Juvia."

Juvia is another member of our group. Naturally she's a water mage, a powerful one at that, but now she's a professional kidnapper. Juvia would be pretty normal, except for the fact that she is head over heels for Jack Fr-, I mean Gray. Literally. She's nice enough but because me and Gray are close friends means that she sees me as a 'love rival'… HA! As if: 1) It's Gray, no thank you, 2) We're only friends and 3) I hate to admit it but I know I'm gonna die alone. Who in their right mind would fall in love with an assassin who drinks blood but isn't a vampire? That's right no one. Well, maybe one person… I hope they do anyway.

"So why me?" I sat back down, leaned back and crossed my arms as calm and as cold as rock. "I mean, she _is_ the best for the job."

"But she can't smell blood a mile off."

"So… that's why you need _me_. I get it now, but… blood? Is she a cannibal or sumthin'?" It's unusual to find someone like me, but why would you need that 'skill' to _find_ someone.

"Well, something a bit like that, all I know for definite is that this person is currently homeless but at the same time, is the cause for much bloodshed of late. I'm sure you heard about the murders in Hargeon?" I nodded "Good, because this is where you be going to find the target." He looked at me for agreement.

"So… I'm going to Hargeon, to find a bloodthirsty killer, of whom I have no idea of the appearance of, not to do what I've been trained to do, but to capture them and _somehow_, get them here without being killed myself?" He nodded. "Sure, it'll be nothing." I put my feet up in his desk as if to show how relaxed about it I was. "Oh and… can I bring Juvia with me, I could use some expertise in this area on my side."

"Sorry, Juvia is planning for a journey at the moment and will be leaving in the morning, she can't go. What about Gray?" Master suggested.

"NO! No, if Juvia found out, oh god… no, I can't. Oh! Can Erza come?!"

"That is out of the question. If she were to go with you, the subject will be coming back with you dead and drained dry. I know, you will take Levy with you. She can restrain you." Master placed his hands on the desk as if to say 'and that is final'.

"What!? Levy's a Librarian now. She gave up magic and combat ages ago! I mean, she's my best friend but… she can't come, I'd ruin her life!" I looked at him desperately. She's innocent, I don't want to take that away from her and she's my best friend… out of the few I have.

"She'll be fine, she hasn't lost any skills and she can carry out orders exquisitely. Now, go get prepared." I stood up in defeat and trudged towards the door. As I closed the door I looked back at him to see that he had picked up a phone and was dialling a number, probably Levy's Library. I decided to go home and get some stuff ready; I'd call Levy and explain when I was ready. I took off my cross body weapon belts and stuffed them into my bag. I then went into the girls' bathroom so I could rid myself of my incriminating bloody clothes so that I don't get arrested the second I step out of the door to the guild.

* * *

I live in an apartment block in one of the more beautiful parts of town. The road is alongside the river that runs through the city and there is a low railing running along it, of which I enjoy walking on. In my part of town, everyone thinks I'm an innocent young girl… they suspect nothing. I like to laugh at the thought of the look on my neighbours faces if they were to find out that I'm a bloodthirsty assassin/murderer/mage.

I unlocked the door and trudged in, like always. After stretching and kicking to door shut behind me, I went over to my room to put back the bloody bag I had back in my closet and get a new clean one. I emptied the contents of the old one: 2 cross-body belts with twelve daggers attached to each, 3 sets of black and red bloody clothes (there's a reason I have so few white or colourful clothes), 2 spare sheaths, 3 machetes (need to return Erza's to her), 2 blood-stained info sheets… stuff like that.

I put one of the cross-body belts, a set of black and red clothes, socks, a machete, a couple of glass bottles, a clean information sheet and a bottle already filled with blood into the clean bag. _I just hope the blood doesn't leak._ I picked up my phone and dialled Levy's number. She picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey Levy, it's Lucy."

"Lu-chan, Master called! I'm going on a request with you! YAY!" she sounded so happy.

"Um, you're okay with it?"

"Well, duh! It's been ages since I did anything like this!"

"You _do_ know what we're doing… right?

"Master told me that we were going to Hargeon to investigate that murderer… why?"

"Well… we aren't investigating… we're gonna' _find _and _kidnap _the murderer, okay? Not my usual job, I mean… no death and yeah I guess this _is _more in Juvia's area of expertise but it was an order and… you don't want to come do you?"

"… no, I do want to come. When do we leave?" So… she wants to go. Nothing I can do about it I guess.

"I'll see you at the guild in 5 minutes." *click* I hung up. So, I'm taking more innocence… again, nothing I can do though.

* * *

Five minutes later I was in a car, leaning out of the open window waiting for Levy to arrive. A small bluenette came around the corner and waved at me. I waved back and sat up and got into the passenger seat as Levy fell into the driver's seat and flung her bag in the back alongside mine.

"To Hargeon then?" she looked across at me for approval.

"Let's go catch ourselves a killer, well… another one."

* * *

**There's chapter one, in case you've already read chapter one and are wondering, Hmm... This is slightly different. That's because I'm proof reading the chapters I've already posted (again). Also I didn't say goodbye at the end of this chap, so here is my signature goodbye. This was Alpha, so long and thanks for all the fish! (I don't know why I like saying goodbye like that, I just do)**


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't know why but I am in love with my plot, not to be hot headed, I just really like the idea. It's something that I can be passionate about, something that I really like to think about to pass the time, like what I'm gonna make these guys do and how they will react and my favourite bit, which is hard to come up with, is to think of way for the climax to actually come about, i know whats gonna happen... but how. Lets HAVE SOME SUGGESTIONS! But enough with my thoughts, some new characters are gonna be introduced (or mentioned) in this chapter *wink wink nudge nudge*. So let it commence. Please review and if you like it please favourite, it helps.**

* * *

Hargeon isn't far from Magnolia, which to a lot of the magnolian citizens is worrying when concerning the murders… I wonder what she will look like.

"So… who are we looking for, what does this person look like?" Levy asked, not taking her eyes off the road.

"I don't know." I'm pretty sure that we nearly had a car crash when I said those three words. "Yeah I know the feeling. When Master told me that I reacted the same way."

"So how _are _we tracking this guy down?" Levy inquired, slowing down a little.

"Apparently… this person is homeless and if… you look at the bodies, of which Master has... you can tell that he would have had to get his hands… dirty. In other words, he's covered in blood 24/7." I explained, constantly pausing to sniff for any traces of blood in the air.

"And that's why master wanted you to go instead of Juvia, right?"

"Right."

"So… what then? We just drive around until you pick something up on your blood radar?" Levy glanced at me and my sniffer. Sometimes I really feel like a dog.

"I guess so? It shouldn't take long though, Hargeon isn't _that_ big." She nodded and continued to drive.

* * *

We drove around for hours. I picked up some scents but they all quickly died away, they were all fresh and had hardly any strength to them like a corpse would. Levy wanted on multiple occasions to stop and get something to eat or go sit on the docks for ten minutes but Master wanted this guy ASAP.

"Let's stop Lev. My nose needs a rest." I prodded her in the arm and she nodded in agreement. We parked in an alley, just in case, and got our bags out. Levy pulled a sandwich and a packet of crisps out of her bag; I pulled the bottle of blood out.

"Wait… you've had that all this time! Wouldn't it have jammed up your senses?" Levy looked at me as if to say 'what the hell! Are you an idiot?'

"It's _my _blood. I know its smell all too well. I can either block it out or just ignore it, you get used to it over time. Oh yeah when I pick something up you're gonna need to drink some and put a little where you would put perfume." She stared at me in shock. "That is unless you want to stay here and not catch in on the action?"

"No, no of course I don't want to miss out, it's just… weird. Why?"

"This girl is gonna be accustomed to the different smells of human, and blood drenched human. If we smell blood drenched when she is too, then she won't pick up our scent. It's Logic." All she did was nod.

"Wait… how do you know that this persons female? It could be a guy."

"It's just the general term for when something doesn't have a gender, like cars, ships, dogs etcetera. It doesn't mean anything." I looked at her and she just rolled her eyes and turned back to her sandwich. I picked it out of her hands and took a bite, gaining an annoyed look from her. I smirked at her and handed it back.

"Lu-chan! I get enough of that from Gajeel! I don't need it from you too!" She took violent bite out of her sandwich causing me to giggle. "Please, I know how you used to act but can you please dial it do…"

"Shut up." Everything was silent. I sniffed the air, the scent of blood was suffocating. "She's _just _made an attack." I took a swig from the jar of blood, applied it like perfume and handed it to Levy. I slipped on my cross-body belt and handed Levy the machete. I put the bottle into my belt and headed off.

"Hey… wait a sec!" Levy ran up next to me and handed me the empty bottle. "You know, it felt weird drinking _your_ blood." We made our way, directed by my nose and suddenly heard something. I looked around the next corner and saw two red figures, one on the floor and the other bent over it.

"Got her" I whispered as quietly as possible. "I'm gonna get on the roof and get her from above, when you think it is needed you should come in and knock her unconscious, ok… I'm going." I crept off towards the other side of the building and climbed up to the roof. I looked over the edge to get a better look at the scene. The murderer seemed to be ripping pieces of flesh of off the corpse and stuffing it into her mouth. Eww, even I don't do _that_. I carefully scaled down the other side of the wall. Getting close to a target has never been a criterion for my job; I guess a change is doable. I crouched on a crumbling balcony and watched to see if the target had noticed me yet. Nope, it's all good. Tho whole clearing looked abandoned, the houses were all crumbling and stone was strewn everywhere. I picked up some rubble and sized it up. After a little judgement I threw it across the square, it made a small sound but obviously the killer heard it. They stood up and stepped back… towards me. I wasn't expecting that but it makes my life easier. I stood up and got ready and… pounced. I pinned the killer to the floor, and did my best to resist the urge to lather up all the blood they were covered in. I then, as easily as I could manage, maneuvered us so that they were on their back and I was face to face with them. It _was _a he, whoops. Oh well.

"Name" I growled. All he did was smirk at me.

"Why on earth would I give you that?" I just stared at him. He rolled his eyes and we continued to stare at each other, for what felt like five minutes. "Why are you here? What do you want me for?"

"That is and idiotic question." His smart-ass look was replaced by an annoyed frown. "If I wasn't here for my reason, I would probably be here to arrest you. You're a murderer, a serial killer. And the evidence is basically that you're covered from head to toe in blood, I mean… it's even on your face and in your hair."

"So… I have two questions for you. One, you smell like blood yourself, you can't talk."

"I would expect that, I drank some to put you off my scent, also... all humans have blood coursing through their veins and finally, I kill for a living, it's my occupation."

"Wow! A real life Assassin!" His voice was dripping with sarcasm. "I'm so honored! So… what, this will probably answer my second question but, are you here to kill me or something? I could understand why but if I'm honest I don't _really _want to die." He was treating this like a sick joke, if I didn't have specific orders _not_ to kill him, I would.

"No I'm not here to kill you, unfortunately. My master wants me to take you to him, only God knows _why_ he'd want to see a little bitch like you but… hmpf, those are my orders."

"You're pretty faithful ain't cha?" I was getting more than sick at the smug look on his face.

"He keeps us from death every day, of course I'm faithful. God I wish you would just FALL UNCONSCIOUS!" I shouted in Levy's general direction.

"Huh? Why would I do that? I'm having _way_ too much fun talking to you." I looked up and he tried to crane his head around so that he could see to too. "What the hell are you looking..." **_Thwack! _**Finally! After levy hit him upside the head with the machete I gave her, still in the sheath, he fell instantly unconscious and shut up. I stood up and dusted myself off.

"About time Lev, I was about to slit his throat I swear!" I looked up at her and smiled sarcastically. I pulled out one of the glass bottles and went over to the corpse lying off to the side and filled it with blood. I need some to cure my assassin's blood-lust when on a break from work. There's one next week as I've got some stuff to do.

"Sorry Lu-chan, I was waiting to see if there would be a better moment. Plus eww! That's how you get your supply for the blood fridge? Yuck!"

"Its better taking it from already dead people then taking it for the purpose of gathering it like that arsehole." I kept on filling up the bottles I had left. "Ok then, let's get him back to the car. This took less time than expected. Let us thank Mavis for letting him pounce tonight. That could have taken a week at most."

"A week!? I'm sorry but that was _not_ what I signed up for. We would have been home on Tuesday; I have an important delivery coming." Levy pouted and started to stomp off while I went over to the serial killer and put him on my back.

"Wait up Lev!" I trudged up to her, she had stopped to wait for me and we then carried on our way back to the car.

"Just wondering Lu-chan, did you feel the sexual tension in the air?" She nudged me with her elbow and I nearly fell over.

"How DARE you say that Levy! NO he is a jackass! You have the completely wrong idea, plus I can't." She just rolled her eyes at me and giggled. "Go to hell"

* * *

Once we got to the car I stuck the oaf into the back seat. Levy got into the driver's seat and I moved the bags into the passenger seat and sat next to the guy. I then proceeded to pull out some emergency handcuffs from the back of the passenger seat. Oh, did I mention that the car belongs to Juvia. I attached one end to my hand and the other to the guy's hand, so that he couldn't go on a rampage if he woke up before we got back to the guild, it wasn't a long ride but it wasn't short either. However, because of my _super good_ luck he woke up a few minutes after we started driving.

"Oh GOD! We're *wretch* in a FUCKING CAR! I get extremely *wretch* MOTION SICK!" He bent over and his face turned a violent shade of green.

"Not another one. Urgh, let me get the blood." I pulled a bottle of blood out of my bag and a packet of motion sickness pills. "Here, have these. I'd suggest taking two… you need them." He took them then looked at me with a really disapproving look.

"Painkillers don't help." He shook his head but it just made him feel sicker and he bent back over.

"If you don't take those we're going to have bloody, fleshy vomit in Juvia's car. Lovely." I threw my hand in the air, fell back in my seat and tried to cross my arms but failed as the guy was still attached to me.

"Painkillers won't help I've told you *wretch*." He fell onto the middle seat and would have landed on me had I not caught his head and pushed it away.

"Those are motion sickness pills and they _will_ help. Trust me we have another friend just like you… in this sense, he isn't a murderer. The pills work." I prodded him to see if he was still alive and he shot upright at my words, but seemed to instantly regret it because he curled up again and started to wretch.

"They're fucking motion sickness pills! Why didn't you say so? He picked up the packet, gagged a bit, handed me the packet, motioned to it as a sign to ask me to take out the pills, gagged a bit more, picked up the blood bottle and with a very shaky hand popped the lid off. His hand was shaking so violently you could see huge disturbances within the blood. I pushed two pills out of the packet and into my hand then handed them to him.

"These should kick in in about five minutes, you'll be fine." He nodded, hugged his knees and fell over so that his head was on my lap. "Get off." All he did was groan. "I said get off!" He shuffled about on my lap. "Look, I don't want to push you off because it will probably just make you throw up, so GET OFF YOU BASTARD!" I yelled at his unresponsive head and he just groaned again.

"Are you having fun back there?" Levy called back at me. "Sounds like it."

"Oh keep your mind on the road." I snapped.

"Hee hee hee, fine. You know, he reminds me of Gajeel, getting sick and all. Weird huh?" She looked back for a split second and started to laugh hysterically. I didn't know that having a blood covered boy resting his head on your lap was so funny.

"LEVY shut up! But yeah, that is a weird coincidence. Oh well." I looked back to him. His hair was saturated with dry blood, and it smelt amazing. "Hey, you any better?" He nodded in response. "Good… now GET OFF OF ME!" He slowly sat back up and took a breather. I looked back at my lap to see tons of flecks of blood left there. And, because it was me, I ate some it. Of course it didn't have hair on it. That would just be disgusting.

"What the heck! That's disgusting!" he gawked at me as I put a little bit more in my mouth.

"It's not as disgusting as eating flesh."

"You drink blood!"

"So do you!" We glared at each other for a while. Then he blinked a couple of times and looked down at himself then back to me with a look of disbelief.

"They worked! I feel fine…" He just looked at me. "THIS IS AMAZING! I FEEL AMAZING WHO KNEW TRAVEL COULD BE SO EXHILARATING!" He started yelling at me. He began to roll down the one way window but I just put it back up again.

"HOW DO YOU THINK PEOPLE WILL REACT IF THEY SEE A GUY COVERED IN BLOOD IN A CAR WINDOW YOU IDIOT?"I yelled at the top of my lungs.

"Lu- chan calm down. He's just excited." Levy waved her hand about between the seats.

"Yes, thank you Levy." He nodded towards her then looked back at me, the smug smile from earlier returning

"Don't pick up our names from conversation, you twat." I slapped his arm, hard.

"Ow! Stop that Lu!" He started to laugh quietly at his own insult, if you could call it that.

"My name is not Lu."

"I know. It's obviously an abbreviation. So what is it?"

"You haven't told me yours, so why should I tell you mine?"

"I'd quite like to know the name of my kidnapper, the same way as you'd like to know the name of your target. So…"

"Lucy, Lucy Heartfilia." I held out my hand for him to shake.

"Natsu Dragneel." He took my hand and shook it firmly.

* * *

**Yay, Chapter 2! Please do forgive my inability to express sounds like a sigh or wrenching. I'm sorry. I also ask for forgiveness of any spelling errors I may make, I do go through my chapters beforehand but still, I don't have an editor, mainly because I am one and the closest person I have to an editor mark two, doesn't speak English as their first Language, its Clover if you just happen to read the FNN series I do. This was Alpha, so long and thanks for all the fish! ^w^**


	3. Chapter 3

**OK, so… chapter three. I've seen that the majority of my readers are American, if you aren't then great, amazing even. It's just that I was born and raised in England, so you may be like, 'YOUR SPELLING IT WRONG!' it's because I'm English. Just wanted you guys to know! :D remember to leave reviews with suggestions as to what you want to happen next, cause I need a little help. Also, guess what… THERE'S A REALLY BIG REVEAL IN THIS CHAPTER YAY! And then in chapter 4 you will find out something else. I hope you're looking forward to it! Sorry had to get that out.**

* * *

Did you know that it's really awkward to be hand-cuffed to a guy who's under a blanket? Well, it really is. Natsu was covered in blood so we had to cover him up somehow as to not draw attention to ourselves, or be arrested. Although walking along with a guy under a blanket was just as attention drawing but at least it would't cause anyone to call the police. I might not have mentioned it yet, no I haven't mentioned it yet, but because magic has been outlawed and Fairy Tail just so happens to harbor criminals we had to hide. The guildhall was turned into a public inn and a new guildhall was built underneath so that the guild could still stand, many guilds had to disperse or the council's army killed the members… it was disastrous.

We walked into the inn and went straight downstairs, all the staff at the inn are mages too. We walked through the doors into the crowded bar area, and as I pulled the blanket off of Natsu's head we were greeted by loud cheering and people ran up to us and began to shake mine and Levy's hands in congratulations.

'Well done!' 'You got the guy!' 'Master told us about it!' 'you caught him so quickly!' 'Who would have thought that our assassin would be the one to uphold justice!' many people were commenting and we were swarmed with our fellow members, what weird is that none of these people really ever talk to me, and the people who do talk to me are sitting at their own table, I understand that though, they talk to me all the time, they can talk to me about it later.

"Thanks guys but I really need to take this guy to see Master now." I pushed through the crowd who then moved onto pester Levy with questions while I dragged Natsu up to masters office.

"That was a little harsh. They were only being nice." Natsu mused as we walked through up the stairs.

"It's not like they're my friends, they never speak to me… Hardly anybody ever does." I scowled and pulled harder on the handcuffs to which he objected.

"Ow!" I just pulled harder and ignored him.

* * *

*BANG BANG BANG* I kicked the door as a form of knocking and proceed to open the door with waiting for a response.

"I'm back, and he's with me… happy now?!" I glared at master who was standing over by his filing cabinet. He didn't look at me as he said 'will you two take a seat please.' I sat Natsu down on a chair and sat down on the chair next to him. Master sat to his desk and looked up at us.

"Are you okay Lucy?" the old geezer asked seeing my well and truly pissed off face.

"Yeah fine, I'm fine. Well, here he is, the guy responsible for the recent murders in Hargeon." Natsu nodded to confirm.

"Good, Lucy, I suggest you detach yourself from our guest." Relieved I quickly took the hand cuffs off and stretched and twisted my wrist. It was slightly red, but I've done that a thousand times when accompanying Juvia on her missions. I'm used to it by now. "Now, you can return those to Juvia, she hasn't left yet. Then come back, ok." I stood up and left the two alone. As master had said, she was still here.

"Yo, Juvia!" I called over too her and she beckoned me over. "I have something for you." I dropped the handcuffs on the table in front of her and made my leave.

"Hey Lucy!" I heard Erza call, I turned around. "Come tell us what happened when you're free okay?!" I nodded and went back to masters office. As I opened the door, I saw Natsu and Master shaking each other's hands.

"So, what you say this time?" I walked over the desk and leaned on it. The prick showed me his arm and it held the fairy tail guild mark, like the blood that covered his body, his mark was printed in bright red. "So, you got yourself another one. We must be the biggest magic guild left standing by now." I nodded in approval then looked over to my new guild-mate. "you need a shower."

"Yep, think I can get one?" He looked over to master.

"Lucy, you are to watch him." I felt my jaw drop to the floor. "He is now your responsibility. You caught him, you watch him. He is a serial killer after all, it is your responsibility to prevent him from killing anyone else. You are dismissed."

* * *

We had no choice but to leave. We stood outside master's office in awkward silence.

"So… where's the shower?" He looked at me, I was pale with shock. This prick would have to accompany me on missions, stay with me during the day, all because he is a serial killer. Well… when you put it like that it makes complete sense but still!

"This way." I walked towards the stairs, Natsu in tow. I led him underneath the stairway into the hallway where the storage cupboards and the toilets were. There were also showers down there thanks to my group of friends, always getting covered in blood and injured, there is also an infirmary thanks to that factor. "In there, I'll go get you some clean clothes and attempt to wash your current ones, just pop them outside the door once they're off, I'll wait out here for you." He opened the door.

"You mind if I keep my scarf?" He turned back to me.

"Yes, I do mind now give it here. I'm not running into a room where you are naked to take it from you. Trust me, I know how to get blood stains out of clothes." I reached towards his neck but he pulled away. "Come on, give it!" we wrestled for a while with him refusing to give it up. In the end I had to bite him to get the scarf. He got startled and let down his guard. I stood up triumphantly and he started to rub his arm where I bit it.

"Bloody vampire!" I looked at the mark and saw that I had made him bleed, shit. I did _not_ want that to happen.

"Sorry 'bout that, let's take a look at it." I threw the scarf out the door and knelt down to get a good look at the wound. I rubbed over it with my thumb and examined the blood I had picked up. I licked it clean and pulled a tissue out of my pocket, I dabbed at it until it stopped bleeding so heavily then stood up. "The shower will help, now get clean." I turned on my heel and shut the door behind me. I made my way to the girls bathroom and filled a sink with cold water, once it was full I put the scarf in to soak and went to retrieve the rest of his wardrobe. As I was expecting, his clothes were crumpled up in a bloody pile on the floor. I picked them up and set off to put these somewhere and get some more clothes for Natsu to wear. That scarf must mean a lot to him, he really put up a fight.

* * *

Twenty minutes later Natsu came out of the shower room drying his hair with a towel. I was sitting in the hallway waiting for him to finish. He looked at me in surprise when he noticed me sitting there. I stood up and held out his scarf.

"What did I tell ya'? I'm amazing." He took it and wrapped it around his neck.

"Thanks, it feels almost new. It's a weird feeling, being clean." He looked himself over and you could actually see his skin. The clothes I had picked out for him suited him well, it was just a T-shirt and some baggy trousers but they looked good on him. He took the towel off of his head and handed it to me. He had _pink_ hair. It stuck out in random directions, I can say that I've only ever seen one other person with hair that resembled his in any way, and it's nowhere near that colour. (**quick example of my Englishness**)

"Let's go." I motioned my hand and walked in the direction of the bar area. He quickly caught up and stopped me.

"You've changed." What! He doesn't even know me! He must have understood the surprised look on my face. "You hated me back in Hargeon, and within half an hour you start acting all resigned and nice. It's creeping me out." His onyx eyes bored into my soul, weird.

"I'm just trying to get used to you, your gonna have to live with me for a couple of days, and I assume you're gonna be forced into my group of friends, we're all criminals just so you know, I just thought I better get used to your good side." I turned away and began to walk again but he grabbed me again proceeded to pin me to the wall. "Urgh let me go." I looked at him with an almost bored expression as he came closer.

"What if I don't want to?" He smirked again; I could feel his breath on my face. It stank of rotten flesh, gross.

"I don't care and... by the way, your breath smells." I continued with my unamused expression.

"Well, thanks." He got even closer. "But I'm happy where I am. Plus, for three years I didn't have the resources to brush my teeth, what do you expect?" His breath was burning hot, unusually… hmm.

"Happy like when I had you pinned to the floor and Levy hit your head like a golf ball?" I questioned him sarcastically. His smirk morphed into and aggressive sneer. Is this guy part animal or something?

"But this time the tables are turned. Aren't they?" He got even closer, I could feel his body against mine. Shit he _needs_ to get off now. Like really, I can't do this. Plus he's creepy, the animal like behavior, the pink hair, the eating of human flesh, the freakishly hot breath… shit, another one! Why are there so many of these things! That makes seven! What the hell!

"Get. Off. Of. Me. Now…" I growled. At least I knew how he worked now. He just chuckled and got closer, no matter how much I hated it, he had an undeniably attractive body. "OW OW OW! SHIT! CRAP! OH MAVIS WHY!" I suddenly grabbed my foot and kneed Natsu in the face in the process. Yes! "OH SHIT IT HUUUUURTS!" He stumbled back in shock at the sudden out-brake and having my knee bash into his face.

"What is it?" I hopped up and down on one leg clutching my foot with my hands, massaging it furiously. Natsu started yelling at me to try and get a straight answer out of me.

"I HAVE A FUCKING FOOT CRAMP!" I fell to the floor and began to stretch my foot. Natsu crouched down and looked at me with real concern, so you can imagine how much I laughed at what happened next. I stood up and began to walk off.

"Wha…" Natsu just stared at me. "It was an act?"

"Stupid Satan spawn." I muttered under my breath.

"What! How… how?" I stopped in my tracks and looked back; I should have known he'd hear me. I turned around to find that he had caught up and was face to face with me. He was bearing his teeth… correction, fangs, and he growled. "How the fuck do you know who I am?"

"I'm just amazing." It was finally my turn to smirk. "I already know six other half demons; they told me that Satan's own son had pink hair and I just put the pieces together.

"But halflings don't just go around telling people about their fricking rulers' hair colour!" He could be very threatening when he wanted to, and his fangs were extremely sharp.

"Well, it seems that halflings do happen to tell their _girlfriends_ these things." His threatening looked faltered as he moved back a bit.

"You have a _boyfriend! _Who's a fucking _HALFLING!_ " he squealed raising in pitch with every word, it was clear that he was stunned and confused.

"Yep, now if you don't mind, I want to go tell the others that he's coming to see me tomorrow. I stalked off leaving Natsu behind. Ha, idiot.

**Well well well… I wonder who this ****_halfling boyfriend_**** is hmm? I bet most of you know but to hell with it. I'm sorry for adding in that note in the middle, I just felt that I ****_had_**** to do that. I have to say, this chapter was hard to write until after the shower but it was fun making Lucy have a cramp, it was funny. Ruining the mood and all. Okay, I'm hoping that Chapter four will be out tomorrow, I've been updating everyday so far but I enjoy it! Trust me, you'll find out who this mysterious boyfriend is tomorrow in the next Chapter. I know for a fact that this chapter will make a certain person very happy. OK I'll shut up now and let you get on with your life. This was Alpha, so long and thanks for all the fish!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4… OMG! I'm soooooo looking forward to writing this chapter. I'm****_ hoping_**** that it's going to be, once again, SOOOO much fun to write! I think I just like to write. In other news though, when I start typing this I have 400 READS! What the hell guys! I uploaded this story like, four days ago! What the hell! I didn't know that this could happen, I'm just ****_really_**** happy. Well, let us get back to SSaA (my abbreviation of the title). I don't own Fairy Tail and all rights to their respective owners. ENJOY!**

* * *

That was fun. A lot of fun. Leaving Natsu in the dust completely and utterly bewildered. I turned the corner at the end of the hallway into the bar area, and leaned back on the wall. I can't leave him, unfortunately. A few minutes passed and he still hadn't appeared so I poked my head around the corner to see Natsu still where I left him muttering to himself in shock. What's so bad about a human dating a halfling anyway?

"Hurry up!" I yelled down the hall the returned to my leaning position. I saw Levy sitting with her friends, Jet and Droy and she seemed to be telling them what happened. Jet and Droy's faces suddenly looked slightly disgusted and I could tell that she had just told them about the drinking of my blood. Yeah, to others the prospect would seem a little disgusting.

"Right, I'm here, where to now?" Natsu, who was still looking slightly numb in the face, came around the corner and looked at me.

"To my table, my friends wanted to talk to me about what happened." I started off to the table in question. I then felt someone tap my shoulder, it was ,once again, Natsu. "What?"

"You said that your friends are all criminals?" I nodded. Yeah, what other friends would an assassin have? "So… are they dangerous, like will they want to kill me?"

"Why are _you _of all people scared? You're a serial killer. But no, they won't try to kill you. If anything you'll get along amazingly." I carried on and came up to my groups table. Only Juvia was absent, but that was expected. I sat down on my chair at the head of the table and grabbed another for Pinky to sit on.

"Do we get our explanation now?" Erza asked. I talked about Erza but I haven explained her yet. Erza Scarlet, like me, is by far one of the most skilled people in our criminal circle. She wasn't my partner just because she's one of my closest friends. When I go on a request to just kill someone and the client doesn't care how I kill the target as long as their dead, she comes along and steals their organs, she works on the black market selling them. We've become known as a serial killer of late, one in the entire country because of the state we leave the corpse in. Missing organs, very little blood, what is remaining of them strewn out all over the place. Aside from that she is an excellent swordswoman and has a weird crush on cake. She's been called a demon before because of her scarlet hair. She's great though and I spend a lot of time with her.

"Sure, what do you want to know?" I asked the whole table.

"Why not start at the beginning?" Gray suggested.

"I'd quite like to know what the deal with the fish is." A tall man with long black hair and piercings all over his face stated. This guy is Gajeel Redfox, remember how I was talking to Levy about him back in Hargeon. He hasn't been around that long but settled in with our group pretty quickly, seeing as he was already a criminal when he arrived, he tried to get rid of our guild when we first met him but master being master, had him join. But as I said he settled in pretty quick, I like to think we're friends anyway. Now, I mentioned earlier that I knew six other halflings before I met Natsu… yeah he's one of them.

I'm just gonna make this clear, all people or things with demon blood can use magic, halflings have specialized magic. Gajeel's is iron.

"Oh, right. Guys, Natsu. Natsu, guys. He's the killer and Master had him join the guild, like he always does." Natsu had his head on the table and his hands on his head, I wonder if he's just happy to be sitting on a chair, or if he's still thinking about what I just said.

"So, the beginning?" A young bluenette asked. This little girl is known as Wendy. She is one of the sweetest girls I've ever met, so why does she hang around criminals you may ask. 1) We found her, when I say we I mean Erza, Gray and I and 2) she helps us. Wendy is yet another halfling, a wind one but she has amazing healing powers. She helps out at the hospital in the city for money and comes along with us on dangerous requests. She can use human methods of healing as well as magical. I love her to bits though.

I told them about what happened, with the whole table asking frequent questions in turn.

"So he gets motion sickness as well? Is he a halfling or something?" Gajeel asked. I looked at Natsu and he sat up and nodded.

"Yep, Natsu is a halfling too."

"Another one?!" everyone asked simultaneously.

"Uh huh, that's seven now, weird right?" Everyone was just staring at him. I prodded him to make him say something but he stayed inanimate. "Oh well, mind if I go? I have to go get ready for tomorrow."

"Sure, good story by the way. See you tonight at dinner." I stood up, grabbed Natsu's arm and dragged him off of his seat and towards the door. He obviously began to walk on his own eventually but I had to drag him for quite a while. Why? I don't know.

"Where are we going?"

"My apartment, then I'm going to think of a place for you to live. You are not going to be living with me tomorrow. If it comes to it you _will_ be staying with one of the others." I stormed ahead. As soon as we entered my neighbourhood I put on the innocent façade as my neighbours passed by.

"Hello Lucy!" One of my neighbours waved to me from their window.

"Hi!" I looked back to see where Natsu was and he was gawking at me as he followed behind. "What? Do you really think I'd be _me_ around here?" I sighed and approached my building's door, I walked in and left the doors open. "Ok, you sit down. Don't touch the desk or you'll be dead, I have a whole stash of weapons, everywhere. I'll have one faster than you can say machete. I'm going to have a bath; I won't be more than twenty minutes... mainly because you're here." I turned around and went into the bathroom. I ran a bath and slipped in. How much had happened in today alone? I caught a serial killer, not that I'm not one, got a new guild-mate, have even more responsibility and got landed with a reluctant new teammate. Wow, all this the day before my boyfriend was coming to see me.

"Stupid master landing me with the Satan spawn himself."

* * *

I couldn't relax, not with Natsu in the next room over. I got out, dried myself off, wrapped the towel around my torso and used another towel on my hair.

When I went back into the other room to grab my clothes I found Natsu lying sound asleep on the sofa. Taking advantage of this situation, I decided to take my time when choosing my clothes. The bog standard black would do fine but I wore a blue belt, just to spice things up. I then went over to the second fridge that stood by my bed and took out a bottle of blood (**yep this is the blood fridge Levy mentioned earlier**) and a pot of nail polish that was sitting on top of it. I went over to the sofa and plonked myself down next to Natsu's unconscious figure. It is _my_ sofa. I took a swig from the bottle and after putting it on the coffee table I removed the lid from the nail polish and began to apply it. I had only painted three nails when I felt a disturbance next to me. It seemed Natsu was waking up, but just as I raised the brush back up to my hand Natsu suddenly jumped up and leapt on me. His fangs were bared and his eyes had turned a flaming red, his hair seemed to be _more _scruffy and had become a harsher tone of pink, if that even exists it just looked a bit darker I guess, but overall he looked aggressive and like he wanted to rip my limbs off one by one. I could have grabbed the dagger that was set inside the sofa arm, but no I just decided to slap him upside the head when somewhere deep inside of me I knew that this would ultimately lead to him getting angrier. However, miraculously, he snapped out of it, stared at me for a few seconds than sat back down on the sofa as far away as he could get.

"U-um err. I… I'm sorry. I have no idea why that happened, it only happens when I smell raw flesh, and… ha there is none." He forced a chuckle which was accompanied by an embarrassed smiled.

"Mavis, that made me jump, but I think I know what set you off." I picked up the nail polish and waved it in his face.

"Um… that's nail polish?" He questioned

"That's made out of a stomach. The powdered muscle makes the paint thicker, and a single drop of hydrochloric acid makes the colour… better somehow. This is what made you go berserk." I then returned to finishing off my nails.

"Who's Mavis?" Natsu poked my arm in question.

"She founded Fairy Tail, she is basically our god, and we refer to her in the same way but it doesn't show offense like it does for others." I finished my last nail and blew on them. I looked up at Natsu and stood up. "Come on then, let's move some furniture then" I rubbed my hands together and made a popping sound for reason other than because I could.

"Move… furniture?" He stood up and looked at me, slightly confused.

"I'm having a house party because it's been ages since I've my little Halfling came to visit. The guys suggested it, they're the only ones coming and I'm guessing that you're coming as well now, but I'm taking advantage of an extra pair of hands and having them help me move furniture." I pulled the chairs away from the table and shoved it against the wall. "You get the coffee table." I pointed towards it then proceeded to stack the chairs in the corner. Next I had Natsu help me roll up the carpet and place it in the bathroom, I am _not_ having a repeat of last time when Juvia soaked it when she accidentally let her hand slip and water shot from it and all over my lovely rug. After that I wrote a list of things I needed to buy in the morning and what I needed to buy now.

"Let's go get this stuff then. Oh and just so you know. You're going to be woken up early tomorrow; the good quality stuff is only available in the morning when dealing with the black market."

"Wait, you're taking me to black market… to buy party food?" I understood his misunderstanding; the black market was for things like drugs, not party supplies.

"There's going to be four halflings present, I'm planning on getting some organs off of Erza, as I said only in the morning, and she packs up shop at ten." I looked at my list again, nodded and walked out the door.

* * *

"Who knew going to the black market could be so much fun" it seemed that Pinky over here had never been to one before, and Magnolia's is pretty impressive for what it is.

"Well, we better go back at the apartment now. I need to get ready; he's arriving a little over an hour." I picked up the pace. I had been dragged around the town by Natsu; it had been too long since he could buy anything. After arriving back I threw the TV remote at Natsu and made my way into the toilet, no time for a bath. I brushed my hair out and styled it. I sort of wish I had enough time to get Cancer, one of my old friends, round. He was a renowned hair stylist and treated hair like a canvas. I don't really wear much make up, it makes me look too bright and cheerful, and a small amount of concealer and a little faint lip gloss would do. I put a white t-shirt on to replace the black one and I was done. The way I described the process made it seem pretty fast but in reality, it took half an hour, stupid hair. As I rushed into the main room I grabbed the remote and switched the television off, to many protests from the demon.

"Hey I was watching that!"

"We're leaving, now get out!" I pushed him through the front door and locked it behind me. Thankfully the guild hall is near home so it never took too long to get from point A (my apartment) to point B (Fairy Tail). As I strode through the doors into the underground bar I gained a few surprised looks. I only wear white on special occasions, it's a pure colour and I am by no means pure in any way shape or form, except from when I'm with _him_.

"Hey Lucy, cutting it a bit short are we?" Gray teased as I sat down.

"Oh, shut up jack frost." I bit back

"Don't be mean to Juvia's Gray-sama!" Juvia grabbed onto Grays arm to which he began to try and shake her off. For some reason it hasn't clicked in Gray's head that Juvia loves him, or so it seems.

"Did you have fun this morning?" Erza quirked an eyebrow at me.

"No, Pinky decided to drag me over half of Magnolia just because he hasn't gone to market and bought stuff for himself for three years."

"Speak of the devil"

"Literally" Natsu sat down next me and looked at us curiously. "We were just talking about how you wasted my time this morning." I glared at him and he just scowled in response. Suddenly I felt something wrap itself around my neck.

"Hey Luce." I sunk back into what I had figured out were arms.

"Wait… Sting?!" Natsu stood up and gawked at the guy with his arms around me.

"Natsu?!"

**WOW. WHAT A TERRIBLE ENDING. Did I swear in this chapter? I don't actually remember doing it. Wow that's a first. And for those people who managed to guess correctly who I decided to make Lucy's boyfriend then well done! Though it wasn't hard to figure out, I mean, he's named in the list of featured characters. So do be aware that this is both a NaLu and StiCy just in case anyone is thinking 'I don't like that ship, I'm going to stop reading this meeehh!' just so we're clear. This ****_has_**** been the most difficult chapter to write so far but that's only because I was lacking creative juices, they will return. This was probably because I had a deadline and I work terribly under them and that I have an unhealthy YouTube obsession and I have been watching Capndesdes and CinemaSins the entire time that I've been writing this. Oh well, the next chapter will not have an expected time to come out. Just so you know over here in England as I'm writing this chapter its 10pm and I'm the only one awake, or so I think. Don't forget to leave a review, they help me and make me very excited. Oh well this was Alpha, so long and thanks for all the fish.**


	5. Chapter 5

**… Let me get my cool… can I? I don't think so, please excuse me as go a little bit cray-cray. OMG DID ANYONE READ TODAY'S FAIRY TAIL?! GaLe GaLe GaLe GaLe! IT'S CANNON PEOPLE, IT'S OFFICIALLY CANNON! NO ONE ARGUE IF YOU DON'T WANT TO BE BLED DRY AND YOUR ORGANS STOLEN, I ****_WILL_**** SET ERZA AND LUCY ON YOU! Ok, I'm done. I'm sorry but GaLe is my OTP (one true pair, sorry none of my ****_FRIENDS _****knew until I told them) so when I saw that during my brother and sister's birthday party when I'm meant to be controlling 'pass the parcel' I freaked out and mum and our neighbour just look at me to say 'teenagers'. Anyway I'm sorry for not updating in over a week, at first I just needed a little break, chapter four was really stressful, but then I got busy, ****_really REALLY_**_**busy.**_** A birthday party for twins turning four is just… urgh. I'm also really thankful to those people who have all reviewed, it really brightens my day. I'm also sorry for my friend who is constantly talking and talking. Oh well. This is a really bad chapter, really boring. But next chapter is going to be good, and it hopefully will be for a while. Also I have the story planned out, don't worry. Updates will be more regular. Onto the story, I've rambled for ****_way_**** too long now.**

* * *

**_~~Natsu P.O.V~~_**

What the hell! What's _he_ doing here?! Why does _he _have to be here? Why dad, why burden me with the most annoying Halfling I've ever met. Why is he annoying you ask? In 3… 2… 1…

"Lord Dragneel it is of my up-most pleasure to be graced with your presence one again." Sting had knelt down on one knee with his head bowed, this again.

"It's Natsu, not _'Lord Dragneel'_ Sting. Don't call me that." I rubbed my temples in frustration. He can be so uptight.

"Yes sir."

"And stand up would you"

"Yes sir" Everyone at the table were looking confused. I _had_ only been there two days and already people are bowing in my presence. I guess I _could_ tell Gajeel and Wendy… they have a right to know. Meh.

Lucy whispered something in Sting's ear and he nodded in an understanding way. "Sorry guys, just… ignore that little display. I'll… explain later?" He didn't sound sure at all. The table welcomed him like family and he took my seat next to Lucy. I gave it up willingly, obviously. So now I'm sat next to Erza, under her watchful eye. I'm sure that she doesn't trust me in the slightest, yeah… she can talk. I still can't help but ask… why Dad, why in hell did you land me with this girl, it had to be the one with Sting included in the deal.

Okay, I've been trash talking Sting for a while now, but he isn't a bad guy. He's actually really nice. Don't get the wrong idea, he isn't a jerk, Lucy really does no how to pick 'em, she has a good choice in men. Like, a _really_ good choice in men.

"Natsu." I heard the red head say my name and instinctively turned my head towards her. She was looking directly at me. "You are going to need somewhere to stay tonight, correct?" I nodded feebly. This woman is pretty scary, and I don't think that she's trying to be either, she's just being firm because she doesn't trust me. "So I think you should stay with Gray." She gestured to him.

"Sure why not?" Gray laid back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. The girl next to him, Juvia I think it was, was staring at him intently. I could quite literally hear heart beating frantically, like… 'Demon hearing' hear.

"Ok, I could do that. " I commented and Erza nodded proudly, that's nothing to be proud of, she suggested something and we agreed. I looked over to see that the girl who was with Lucy when I was dragged here was talking with Lucy (I know her name...wait a sec… I know this… it's, Le~~-vy~~? Yep that's it) while Erza had begun to talk with Sting. It really amazes me at how comfortable this guild can get, especially how easily they welcomed Sting in. I wonder how long the two have been together. His arm was draped over Lucy's shoulder playing with her hair. They really are super comfortable in each other's presence, and they just… look right, almost as if they belong next to each other.

* * *

"That smells AMAZING!" I rushed through the door, my mouth watering from the luscious smell that was being emitted from Lucy's apartment. She and Sting had left early to prepare while I stayed in Erza's care, I feel like a dog when his owner's gone on holiday.

"We aren't here to eat, we're here to spend time in each other's company, take your mind off food for once!" Erza scolded me, but I was too distracted by the smell to pay any attention. There were two tablecloths placed on the dining table, one side filled with party food and the other with raw meat. It looked so good. After lunging for the table Erza had sat me on the couch so that I could wait until the _civilized_ eaters had taken their pick. I'm sorry; food is all I can think about. A little while later I was sat on the floor with a plate piled high with different entrails when Lucy came over and sat next to me.

"How do you know Sting?" Well, she's straight forward. "He won't tell me." She can also whine pretty well.

"Well, that's obvious, he can't tell you, if Dad found out… burr, it sends shivers down my spine. We grew up together." I waved a piece of oesophagus in the air as I spoke.

"So you ran in the same circles?"

"You could say that. His dad is Captain of the Guard at my place; at least it was until dad threw me out but still. So we grew up together, but ever since he was given a place of authority he's started treating me like I'm some sort of overlord or something. He treats me the same as my father, it was sudden, but soon after he was given this authority he decided to come up and try his chances up here. He seems to have done well for himself though."

"You guys really do go back then, I did not expect this." We sat there in silence while everyone else talked, these guys, despite being professional criminals, were fun to be around.

"You know, you have good taste in men. Out of all of the guys this world has to offer, you went and picked the most loyal soldier in the army's from hell."

"Heh, thanks. Oh well, I heard that you're staying with Gray tonight. Let me guess, Erza's idea?"

"Who else?" I shrugged and we laughed a little.

"If it were my choice I would have had you stay with Gajeel… oh well, mind if I go?" I just shrugged. She got up and put her plate in the bin... I've just noticed, but Lucy has nice hair…

* * *

"What did you say Ice Princess!"

"What did you think I said Flame brain?!" I was head to head with Gray, you could literally feel the heat coming off of us, I think I managed to set myself alight; its normal don't worry! I don't see there being any chance of me staying with him now. If you're wondering, no… I can't remember what he did. I think he spilled my stomach on the floor or something, something minor.

"STOP NOW!" Erza tugged on our hair and smashed our heads together.

"Aye" I managed to force out. Gray just nodded grudgingly. The second she turned her back though I glared at him as if by doing so it would cause him to spontaneously combust.

"Natsu, for tonight you will officially be staying with Gajeel, not Gray. I fear for the safety of Magnolia." This was understandable, and I was happy about it, I'd get to be around my own species.

"Eh, fine with me." I shrugged

"Sure, can't hurt. It's been a while since I actually spent some time with another halfling." Gajeel grumbled from his seat on the other side of the room. "Oh, err… no offense Wendy." I looked to the sofa to see Lucy sitting with Sting; she gave me a thumbs up. This _is_ what she wanted after all.

* * *

"Thanks Lucy, this was fun." Wendy gave Lucy a hug as she said goodbye, everyone was leaving. I haven't been to an informal party since my seventh birthday, it was fun. Erza was talking to Gajeel off in the corner, no doubt about me, so I had to hold back until everyone had left. Eventually there were just four of us in here. I went over to Lucy, she was studying her small apartment which was littered with cups blood splatters, namely one off by the table, probably from where Gray made me drop my plate. It _was_ what happened, I remembered in the end.

"Yo, Luce. Thanks for tonight it was great." I patted her in the back making her jump. I don't think she noticed me behind her.

"Oh, ha-ha. Thanks, it was chaotic as ever but nothing big. I love spending time with everyone though. When you get them in a place like this where the only audience is people where they don't have to put on a show, everyone is… real, I guess." She was staring into the room with a slight smile planted on her face, ha cute.

"You have a great bunch of friends here; they're pretty great for criminals. I've never been to one of these parties, I look forward to the next. Bye" I put my hand on her shoulder and left to meet Gajeel at the front door. As soon as he caught sight of me he grunted and walked out of the building. I ran up to his side, shoved my hands in my pockets and we walked along in awkward silence. When I say awkward, I mean it. And for some reason no one was on the streets and he lived out in the forest surrounding a quarter of the town so we were walking down dirt paths where no one besides us belonged. This guy is weird, and really reserved.

"Hey, Pinky. Why don't you have a place of your own, you need one. Sting is meant to be here for a while and I don't want to share my house for too long. It's enough with the two of us." He grunts a lot.

"Two?"

"I have an Exceed. You know; the ones that look like cats."

"Yeah, I have one. I haven't seen him in ages, his name's Happy. Back in hell he was my best friend." I looked off into the trees smiling. He's a pretty cool friend, I never saw him as a pet… ever.

"You still call it hell? I just call it the hospital. The second I was spawned I was brought here. Whoever had me gave me to who I can only really call my parent. He taught me about life and all that shit. Magic too… he was a Halfling like us… He taught me about the underworld as well, but I can only imagine what it's actually like. What _is_ it like. You grew up there right?" He has a bit of a mouth when he wants one. He was looking at me expectantly.

"Well… it's not _that_ different to here, just a bit more depressing I guess. Imagine the sky always as it now, but with no stars… these things are amazing. It's probably the only upside to being homeless, seeing the stars. Especially after fourteen years of none. It was amazing, I'd only read about them; and let's just say that the guys down there don't really have an eye for art."

"Wow… sounds weird. Hey is Satan all that bad. Isn't that just a title though? The current bigwig is called Igneel right? I hear that he's the worst they've had in millennia." He chuckled then glanced at me for an answer.

"Yep, he _is_ pretty bad. Well… thats dad for ya."

"Wait… _dad_?" Shit, I said it didn't I. Catching up with Sting half the night really wasn't a good move. Well I guess Gajeel and I _do_ share Lucifer's blood.

"Yeah, _dad._" I suddenly realized that he had stopped in his tracks. Gajeel was just staring at me, dumbfounded. "So what? I'm Satan spawn, it doesn't matter." I turned back around and carried on down the path. I hated it when people judged me when they found out… hmpf, why does it make a difference. I then heard footsteps behind me and soon Gajeel was walking beside me again.

"Well you seem pretty cool to be for the son of the worst guy in current existence." He slapped me on the back and chuckled. He… doesn't care? What? He… he...? Wow, FairyTail is pretty awesome.

* * *

**This. Was. Utter. Bullshit. I'm honest. Didn't I tell ya that would happen? This was just exposition. I'm sorry but I promise that next time something ****_will_**** happen. I know what's going down from here on out. I will just say right now that in FairyTail my favourite characters are Natsu and Gajeel. So I was really happy to put them in a scene together. The party was boring and I know that I'm losing my touch, if I ever had one. By the way if any of my readers are experienced manga/anime fans then they might be able to guess where this idea came from, but I came up with this idea before I actually started reading the series (I had read the blurb). But now I love that series more than FairyTail and Alice in the Kingdom of Hearts, and that's saying something big! –Dear Stephano, my dear co-writer of the FNN… don't tell anyone. Got it? Done! Okay, I love you guys and thanks for getting me past 650 reads! It's mind blowing! This was Alpha, so long and thanks for all the fish.**


	6. Chapter 6

**WOOHOO! I DID IT! This is the longest chapter so far you guys will be pleased to know so there is plenty this time around. I'm sorry, I promised regular chapters but… well I don't know why but If I try to write an entire chapter in one day I feel ****_really_**** pressured and my mind goes blank so it can take up to a week for the chapter to get finished. I started this one on Thursday and now its Monday, 3 o' clock in the afternoon. I'll post when I can and I can promise you that there will be at least one chapter every week. Who read chapter 396! OMFG THIS IS HAPPENING GALE IS CANNON PEOPLE, GALE IS CANNON! I'm pretty sure that the next fic that I write will be GaLe so please tell me if you want that or some other ship. Just tell, please do! Don't forget to review… unless your known as Stephano and you know me personally (it must be both qualities). Ok! All rights to their respective owners**

* * *

I stretched out and flopped down onto the sofa. I don't want to wake up… urgh but it's too bright in my room.

"Mornin'" I heard the growl followed by heavy footsteps down the stairs.

"G'morning bolts for brains." I stood up and made my way over to the kitchen. I could feel the daggers being plunged into my back as Gajeel glared at it. He didn't like that name. Fat load of shit he could do about it, me being me an' all.

I opened the door to the kitchen and saw Panther Lily working the hob. (**look it up**) Panther Lily's is Gajeel's exceed. He's pretty badass; he's also a good cook.

"Good morning Natsu. Your breakfast's on the table, I hope you fine it satisfactory." He was a cool guy but Panther Lily is _really_ formal.

"It's always amazing Lily, don't sweat. ALL RIGHT, BACON!" Before I knew it the whole plate of bacon was gone. It was _really _good.

"I was worried that it wouldn't be up to your expectations. I've had the stuff they serve downstairs and… let's just say that it's better in your eyes then anything I can make. It's only raw bacon marinated in O+, its nothing special or rare." I gave out a loud burp and patted my stomach.

"Yes, but remember Lily… I've been feeding off of corpses that I killed myself. It was a little messy. I came back bathed in three years' worth of blood. I think Lucy nearly ate me on the journey, ha."

"When you put it like that." Lily chuckled. He's probably the most mature exceed I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. I have enjoyed staying here. Oh, and for those who are wondering, it's been three days since the party. By tonight it'll be four.

"That girl sure does love her blood. Oh, yeah right." Gajeel swallowed a huge chunk of his drumstick. Talk about inappropriate for breakfast. "Before we left last night she caught me. She wanted me to tell you that she's going on a request and that you have to go too. You know… masters orders." Oh yeah, I left Gajeel with the bill. That reminds me, I need to find a profession. I can't work with Lucy because Assassins tend to work alone. I guess I'll ask the guys later.

"Cool, I'll head over in a sec." I stood up and stretched again.

"If something happens to cancel it, be aware that I've got someone over for lunch. So whatever you do, _DON'T_ drop by." I could tell he was being serious. I wonder who it is.

"Sure, no sweat, I'm just curious about who it is. It can't be Erza, you'd never dare." I began to muse and pace the kitchen. "Probably not Gray, you invite him and you get a love-struck Juvia… it could just be Juvia, you guys have history. You both belonged to another guild before they got discovered and most of the members were killed by the council. But then again, she was going on and on about Gray taking her out to lunch at Mira's request… hmm. Lucy's ruled out, she going out with me. I assume that Sting is coming with us… Not Wendy, she told me she was covering for Levy at her library today as she's going out at lunch… Wait a sec!" I had an epiphany. Gajeel's face was struck with a look of horror, probably at the fact that I just showed that I had a brain. Everyone thought I was an idiot. You can't be the heir to an entire world and not know a thing or two. "Levy's coming round! Right!" I pointed at him the continued my musing. "I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner?! Gajeel and Levy spend _tons_ of time together and it obvious that they have chemistry it's only natural that…" And I had been kicked out. Yep, as touchy as ever, he hates it when anyone talks about them. Well, with the convenient exit I made my way over to the guild to find Lucy.

"Hey! Luce, you in here?" I yelled to the guild in general. It was pretty empty, so I probably didn't need to yell but I love to anyway. Being loud is always fun.

"Over here Natsu!" I looked over to the stairs to see her waving me over.

I made my way over, to see her slightly struggling with a bag way too big for her to carry on her back. It must be her weapons… does she have all of them unless she's got two loads of luggage.

"Hey, let me carry that." I reached to take the bag from her back but she swatted my hand away.

"I'm not keeping it, Sting said that we should take one bag. He's carrying it." Wait a sec, she's going with Sting… on an assassination? I thought she acts alone? Maybe it's just something that assassins do for dates.

"So, I guess that I'm just a tag along?" I poked her arm for good measure.

"If you _want_ to think of it that way then feel free but it isn't actually like that. Really, Sting is the tag along. He wanted to come. I thought he might like to stay and catch up with the others. He hangs out with Gajeel a lot while he's here, them being the species and all…"

"But Gajeel had plans." I finished her sentence.

"Yeah, do _you_ know what's going on?" I nodded and rocked back and forth on my feet, smiling smugly. As if I was just gonna tell her like that. "Ok, so..?"

"He's having someone round for lunch…"

"Who is it?"

"Oh, just… someone."

"Tell me"

"Just one of your friends."

"Tell me Pinky!" I could tell she was getting agitated from the growl that was coming from the back of her throat. As if I'd skip out on the foreseeable reaction.

"Who you spend time with…"

"I HAVE A MULTIPLE FRIENDS DRAGNEEL! TELL ME WHO IT IS OR I'LL DRINK YOU DRY AND SHOVE YOU BACK THROUGH WHATEVER PIT YOU CRAWLED OUT OF!"

"Uh huh, it's Levy."

"Wait… REALLY! LEVY!?" Lucy yelled this making everyone look our way.

"That's my name, don't wear it out." At this remark Lucy ran up to Levy and gave her a huge hug but they both ended up on the floor because the sheer weight of the bag on Lucy's back pushed them both over.

"Oh erm, haha, sorry Lev." Lucy moved onto her knees and Levy stood up. When Lucy tried she just toppled back over so I took the bag from her, to many protests. "Give that back you idiot!"

At that moment Sting came up behind us laughing, and took the bag off of me.

"Is this thing really making that much havoc?" He saddled it onto his back and we looked to Lucy.

"I guess we'll go, I'll talk to you when we get back, OK. Bye!" And with that we left the guild and headed for the train station… wait what!

"Lucy." I ran up next to her. "I'm pretty sure you know this but… most Halflings get motion sick." She pointed at Sting, of course. "So do you have some of them pills?" I opened my eyes wide with hope when a silver packet was shoved under my nose.

"Never leave home without 'em." Sting dropped the packet into my hand, I removed two and gave them back to him. "Two? That's a pretty hefty dose."

"I need them."

* * *

"Urgh, *wretch* I told you I needed two!" We stumbled off of the train into Crocus. It's was extremely busy, and the crowd was just making me feel more uncomfortable. The second we stepped onto the street I felt fine. "Where to now then? Where's the client meeting us?" I stretched and yawned, stupid sun waking me up early in the morning.

"Come on, it's not that far away." Lucy pulled a piece of paper out of the bag and started reading it before heading off in a seemingly random direction. The streets were pretty packed and people were everywhere. Is it always like this? How does Lucy ever get a job done?

After about ten minutes of walking I crashed into Lucy's back which was met with a cold glare, does she have some sort of switch or something?

"Look where you're going Dragneel. Anyway come on, let's go get me dressed up." She set off for an alley down the side of the building we had stopped in front of. The building was grand and looked slightly out of place in the street it was settled on. I followed the other two into the alley then something crossed my mind.

"Why do you need to get dressed up?"

"So that I don't get recognized, it's where I went right where others went wrong. If someone is displeased with my work or is trying to smoke out the famous Lilliana Feather-tail, my work name just so you know, then they won't suspect Lucy Heartfilia of anything. She looks different _and _has a different name. Other professionals have been caught through their lack of disguise use." With that she pulled out a black wig, a hair net and green contacts, within a few minutes she was applying some make up.

"You're pretty used to the process I see. Why do you need make up though?" I picked up one of her brushes and began to twirl it between my fingers.

"You'll be amazed at what make up can do, now give me that!" She snatched the brush off of me and began to use it.

Once she had finished dressing up, she walked over to the front door. "Stay here, I'll come back with the debriefing in a few. You guys just stay here and… bond? Bye." And with that she disappeared. We stood there awkwardly until I went back into the alley and decided to put her supplies back into the bag.

"Is she always this… stubborn? Lucy, I mean." I asked Sting who was still out on the street.

"Pretty much, but you learn to love it." He sat down next to me and picked up the hand mirror. "How'd ya get into Lucy's hands then?"

"She kidnapped me in Hargeon, during the feeding hour." I stuffed the make-up bag into the rucksack and zipped it shut.

"Right, when your mind's on food someone could stab you in the back and you wouldn't notice." He chuckled to himself. "Seriously, you shouldn't leave yourself so vulnerable. If she caught you any other time of day you wouldn't be here right now."

"It's because I was feeding near her that I got caught. Anyway, you could plunge a dagger into my back _now_ and I wouldn't give a toss. It just wouldn't really hurt." I shrugged and stood up. "Do you guys do this often?" I looked over to him, waiting for an answer.

"Not really, she works with Erza most of the time. And I only recently started going to FairyTail more that she comes over to Sabertooth."

"Oh yeah, I heard that you're the Master of your own guild. You've done well around here, while I spent three years on the street. Talk about turning the tables." We laughed and I looked over to the entrance of the alleyway to see Lucy standing there, but took a while to register that it _was_ actually Lucy. "So what's the deal?" she began to remove the wig.

"Just some guy called Baldwin Greenerman, the client believes that he killed her husband. I won't lie though, it's unusual to have female clients. The deal is for six hundred thousand. Apparently he's staying in the Hotel a couple of streets over, I'll de-dress and we'll get going."

* * *

After Lucy had checked is in at a hotel and done some research on the target, we had found ourselves in a warehouse Lucy said that Greenerman was supposed to show up at. We'd intercept whatever business he had and get him there and then. She was pretty organized, but assassins have to be I guess.

"Do, you know when this guy's gonna get here?" I poked Lucy's arm to get her attention.

"In about half an hour, but it's a weird place this isn't it. Seems out of place when you look at it from outside, like it's the only building left standing after a devastating explosion and was left for history's sake… I wonder how much bloodshed came from the explosion." She began to lick her lips.

"You _do_ know that you made that story up, it isn't real." She looked at me blankly then hit me over the head. "Ow!" It was just then that we heard footsteps from the doors.

"He's early." A stout man strolled through the doors accompanied by a young woman with long blonde hair. "That's the client. Haaa, I guess it was another smoke out. She thinks I'm not here." Lucy whispered to us while watching the scene unfold. The two were talking and pointing around the building. I managed to pick up something the woman said, 'I never thought we'd attract someone as renowned as Lilliana Feather-Tail, I told her that you'd be here in twenty five minutes' yep it was a smoke out.

"What do we do about it then?" I poked Lucy again this time earning a pull on my ear.

"We kill them. She wanted him dead, she's getting him dead. But she's getting more than she bargained for." At this, Lucy began to slowly un-zip the rucksack and took out two of her throwing knives. Within five seconds each knife was lodged in a back, and the man and the woman fell over. We jumped down from our perch and walked up to the two bodies on the warehouse floor. Lucy knelt down in front of the woman and screwed up her nose.

"That's what you get for messing with Lucy Heartfilia." You could see the confusion in the woman's eyes which quickly changed to realization and then lost all emotion whatsoever. She had gone, and so had the man. Blood had begun to pool on the floor and we all backed away as to not get any on our shoes. You know, evidence. "Well, that didn't even take a day, I don't think we needed that hotel room." Sting went to fetch the bag and I looked at the corpses. They looked pretty delicious, the soft tender skin on the woman and the sheer amount on the man just made my mouth water. But I can't eat from a body until my feeding hour.

"We better remove those knives; they have your fingerprints on them." I walked over to the bodies and yanked the knives out of their backs. "here, catch." I threw them to Lucy one at a time. She caught the first one but the second…

"Ouch, crap." She was already holding one and I managed to throw the second one awkwardly causing her to catch the blade side of it.

"Sorry Lucy, let's have a look." I went over to her and inspected her hand, it was bleeding quite a bit but I don't think it hit any big veins or arteries. "Yo Sting! How much longer are ya' gonna be?"

"I'm here why do you…" when he saw Lucy's hand he sort of overreacted. I opened the bag and calmly took out a bandage.

"Here… we… go." I wrapped it around her hand and ripped of the excess.

"Thanks Natsu. Let's go than shall we?" It was then that I was pushed to the other side of the room. Sting then pushed Lucy to the opposite side to me. "What are you doing?" But he completely ignored her; instead he drew a long sword out of the bag and pointed it at my neck.

"Heyheyhey! Watch what you're doing with that thing." I raised my hands and backed away. Of all people/otherworldly beings should know how deadly he is with one of those things. "What's this for?"

"Stay away from Lucy, I'll tell you when this request can be forgotten." We stared at each other for a while; I'd never seen him like this. The demon inside of him was showing, a purple tint entering his irises.

"Hey, Sting. There's nothing wrong, what're you getting so worked up for?" Lucy tried walking up to us but he turned on her instead.

"The same goes for you, he may seem harmless but he is by far the most deadly creature I've ever seen in action." What me, deadly? Ha, as if.

"You must have let your thoughts run wild during your absence. I'm harmless when my power's been sealed. Don't get your knickers in twist." All he did was look at me.

"We're leaving now." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at it. "_Now_, and make it snappy." So we promptly walked out the doors, on opposite sides of the frame. And then we continued to walk on different sides of the street. Sting had put the long sword back into the bag as to not draw attention to ourselves and was walking alongside Lucy.

No matter how inconspicuous we wanted to be, it was still a little odd that we were walking at the same pace the same distance up and down the road we were walking along. So I decided to pull out the phone I had gotten a couple of days ago, I'd never had one before and it fascinated me. I looked at the clock on the top and the numbers read '3:29' shit… I knew why Sting was getting all cautious after Lucy's hand was cut. However now I think about it I can smell the blood still oozing into the bandage I fixed onto Lucy's hand. At this moment something struck me… Lucy _was_ in serious danger. I pulled up the analogue clock and watched as the seconds ticked down to the thirty mark. 5 seconds… 4 seconds, I put the phone back into my pocket and tried to get the sweet scent of Lucy's blood out of my system but just as I started, I blacked out.

* * *

**Ooo, I wonder what will happen next time. What's up with Natsu? Why was Sting overreacting? Find out next time! I'm not a cheesy TV show but please, do stay tuned for more in the future. Tomorrow's going to be great I'm going to one of my BFF's houses to binge watch Supernatural. She has two entire season 1-8 box sets of it and we're going to the convention in Birmingham in May next year. ****_We get to miss schoo~l _****but that's actually bad because I'm doing my GCSE's next year and I've gone and given myself some of the hardest ones. Oh well, I'm still really looking forward to it. See you in the next chap, don't forget to review! This was Alpha, so long and thanks for the fish! BuhBye!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys! I'm sorry that it's been over a week since I posted the last chapter but I bought Phoenix Wright trilogy on my iPad and I've been a little hooked ever since. So I'm sorry about that but for those of you (if any of you) that know these games, I hope you understand at least. So let us get on with the story and don't forget to review! All rights to their respective owners.**

* * *

**_~~Lucy's P.O.V~~_**

I honestly don't get it. Not one bit. What's his problem? One minute he's completely normal and the next he's overprotective; he's _never_ been like that before. So we're walking down the street, Sting had me right up against the buildings that we were walking by, as far away from Natsu as he could get me. I looked up at him just to see him watching Natsu as he was looking at his new phone. I began to watch him as well when he stopped in his tracks and shock spread across his face. He shoved the mobile back into his pocket and screwed up his face. I think five seconds passed and he just looked up with a blank expression and then turned to look at us.

"What's up With Natsu?" I looked up to Sting but he just slammed me against the wall we were stood next to and he just hid me behind him, I could sense the fear and tension in his body. I put one of my hands on his shoulder and he looked back at me.

"Get ready. And don't let your guard down." I looked back over to Natsu and saw him slowly walking over to us, he looked off. His hair had gone crazy and his eyes had almost completely lost their pupils and instead were replaced with bright blue iris, which was odd considering that his eyes are onyx coloured. His pace quickened as he got nearer, until he was stood in front of us… and he literally flung Sting halfway down the road. As he turned on me, I felt something that I hadn't felt since father sent me into training. Flat out terror.

The hunger was radiating off of Natsu and drool was visible in the corner of his mouth. His lips had obvious pressure on them and I guessed that fangs were trying to poke through. It was now that I truly accepted that this isn't someone from my world. He _is_ the son of the most evil creature we know of. I followed his gaze to my hand, I could see the red stain from my blood and in his eyes I realized I was probably just another meal. I was no longer a friend, no enemy, not even a stranger. Just food.

It happened in a second. Natsu was sent flying by a blinding flash of light while I was thrown to the floor from the force of the beam. I looked towards the source and saw Sting standing in a stance, panting. He just used magic in public. That is a criminal offence worthy of execution for those who don't know. I looked over to where Natsu had landed and he seemed back to normal. I stood up, rushed over to Sting and threw my arms around his neck.

"What did you do that for you shit? Everyone saw that!" I started to sob into his shoulder.

"As long as you're okay, I'm okay" I pulled back to look at him, the image was blurry but I could see the gentle smile sitting upon his face and what he tried to pass as comfort I could see was clearly fear. I don't know how long I sat there with him just crying my heart out, but however long I did was not long enough. I feel the sharp shards from my breaking heart pierce my entire chest as I was pried off of Sting, screaming bloody murder.

"GET OFF ME! NO! GO AWAY YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" I just kept screaming at whoever was pulling me away. The second my hands lost contact multiple soldiers grabbed him and began to drag him away. I kept struggling and pushing against my restraint but to no avail. _Who is actually holding me? What sort of cruel being would do this!_ It seemed that I was right not say person though.

"LUCY STOP!" Right now this was one guy I did not need to see. "THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ANYMORE SO JUST GIVE UP!" I didn't want to accept it but he was right. I went limp and fell into the arms that were restraining me then began to wail.

**_~~Natsu~~_**

This I was not expecting. She never acknowledged anything I said that actually mattered. But none the less, she gave up trying and began to cry. If you could call it crying because no tears came from her eyes, she seemed to have used them all up. I'd never seen Lucy like this before; small, weak, helpless. This wasn't the Lucy the world knew, definitely no Lilliana. All I could do was cradle her in my arms as they took Sting away. I'd have to go and see him later, see what he wants me to tell Lucy; a lie or the truth. Either would be cruel though. What was worse was that however you looked at it, this whole thing was my fault, if I'd not thrown her those knives, or had I even let her get them herself everything would be fine. Shit, I don't want to admit it but, I really do take after my dad.

* * *

After grabbing the rucksack that had been thrown off to the side of the path, I carried a trembling Lucy to the train station. Before we boarded I sat her on a bench and pulled out the motion sickness pills; as if I wanted to throw up on her at a time like this. _What am I gonna tell the others? Nothing, I'll just have to leave. _I knew it would be for the best; no one would want me around after this. Well… maybe Wendy and Gajeel wouldn't mind too much seeing as they know the truth but still.

"What's gonna happen when we get back?" It was barely audible but I could hear everything Lucy said.

"I'm not sure." I held her tighter. I didn't want to leave; I actually had a family who cared about me here but… "Shit… Lucy, I know this won't help at all, but it wouldn't feel right if I didn't say this before I… but… haaa, I'm sorry, I am. You have no idea." I looked up at the ceiling and closed my eyes.

"Why are you saying sorry?" This startled me.

"Why? Well… it's my fault. If I had been more aware of the time of day then… If I had bothered to look at the date… none of this would have happened." I sighed and looked out of the window.

"What are you going to do?"

"What?"

"You said you had to say 'sorry' before you did something. What are you going to do?" I could feel her looking up at me but I couldn't look her in the eye. I could barely even believe that this girl was actually Lucy.

"What did you think? I'm going to ask Master to remove my mark and I'm gonna see if dad will let me back into hell. At least back down there I'll be accepted for everything I've done in the last three years." I felt a small tug on my shirt and looked down to meet Lucy's gaze.

"No"

"No?"

"You aren't leaving," She seemed pretty serious. "It wasn't your fault. There was nothing you could do to prevent that from happening. Even if you had stayed in FairyTail someone else would have gotten hurt. It's in your nature. I've actually dealt with it before." She let out a humourless laugh. "You aren't the only halfling in this world. I was dating one for fuck's sake. Even Wendy has a feeding hour, and she can get really aggressive. You should see when Gajeel goes berserk, now that's scary. But… I'll admit, that was the scariest time I've ever seen it before. Even when I saw Sting go crazy. I'll tell you about it some other time; I'd rather not go into it at this point in time. It's just that you're just so… strong; I guess. It was overwhelming; you looked like you wanted to pull me to pieces…"

"That's because I did." I cut her off. She had gone on for long enough; I knew this wasn't comfortable for her to talk about. "I wanted to rip you to shreds then devour every last bit of you, so that there was nothing left. It occurs once month on the same day at half three. Don't ask me why it just does." I closed the conversation there and we just went back to more silence. A couple of hours passed before the announcer said that the next stop was Magnolia station. I shook Lucy, who was sleeping on my lap, awake.

"What?" She groaned, not opening her eyes.

"We'll be back in a few." She nodded and sat up.

"Are you okay, not sick or anything?" Lucy looked up at me, bleary eyed. It was sweet but she also looked dishevelled and weak.

"No, but _you_ look pretty bad." I pulled her to my chest and she made herself comfortable. "Do you wanna go back to base when we get back or to your place?"

"My place. We'll tell them in the morning. I just want go home and hide under the covers." She snuggled up a bit close, seemingly cold.

"Should I go back to Gajeel's?" She shook her head. "You cold?" No response, so I wrapped my arms around her anyway. She needed shelter right now and I was the only one who could give it to her right now. I dread to think what would have happened had I been dragged off along with Sting. The train drew into the station and we got off. I placed Lucy down so that she could stand on her own.

"Thanks. Let's go then, shall we?" She took a step forward and started to wobble. I quickly caught her though.

"Do you want me to carry back to your apartment?" I held her steady as she tried to gain her balance. I say tried because she failed.

"Yeah, please" She raised her arms, I picked her up bridal style and started towards her apartment.

* * *

I set Lucy back on the ground as I dug her door key out of the bag, set it in the lock and opened the door. I helped her inside and sat her on her bed then as she said she had wanted to, she curled up under the covers. I shut the door and sat down next to her.

"What happens now?" I heard the muffled voiced come up from the bed.

"Don't worry about that for now, just go to sleep, we'll sort it out tomorrow. And we'll have the others to help as well." I looked over to her to see that she had sat up.

"What will the others think?" She started to shiver. "He was their friend too. I take him on an assassination and he's dragged off to be killed." Her voice started to crack under the weight of the feelings piling on top of her.

"Its fine, its fine. You're they're family and they all love you unconditionally. Don't worry its fine. They'll care more about you and _your_ loss. Don't worry." I grabbed her shoulder and looked right at her.

"Yeah… yeah." She started to shiver more violently looked as if she could break down any second. Before I knew it she had her arms around my neck and was sobbing uncontrollably into my shoulder. I began to pat her back and she just kept on going. I'd never been good with other people, I was brought up to rely on no one but myself. It's one of the reasons Dad kicked me out a year early, he emphasized on that rule _a lot_. The wails began to cease and sniffs replaced them.

"I'm gonna *sniff* go to *sniff* sleep now." She went to lay down, which I was fine with until I realized that she hadn't let go of my neck and took me down with her.

"Um Lucy," I just snuggled into my chest. "Luce what are you doing?" But she seemed to be ignoring me. Before long she was peacefully sleeping, occasionally sniffling, still with an iron grip around my neck. _I just hope that no one walks in_. I relaxed and made myself comfortable. After everything that had happened today I couldn't believe that we were just back in Lucy's apartment, I never expected that I would be lying next to her in her bed though. I knew that I had to talk to Sting before he was executed, leaving Lucy without her knowing though… she'd freak out. Still I had to go. _If she lets go of me before leaving, I'll go back._

* * *

**So, I found it pretty heart breaking to write this thing. IM SO CRUEL! Still I hope you enjoyed the chapter and all the NaLu! Yay! I hope to be back with another chapter soon if I'm not too hooked on Phoenix Wright. *quick spoiler* Franziska and Gumshoe make really funny scenes! I can't believe she planted a tracker on him! Haha, so funny :3 *spoiler over* Don't forget to review! This was Alpha, so long and thanks for all the fish!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys! Who is the worst person in the world? Me?! Yeah, I totally agree with you 100%! Yeah, this chapter has taken forever to come out and if I'm completely honest with you… I didn't write most of it, my friend did. She wanted to say something so that will be at the end if you want to see what she has to say. Anyway, this was all because I quite physically ****_couldn't_**** write this thing and yes, I'm going to blame it on writers block because it's that. I tried writing this chapter over ten times and nothing happened! So when Stephano said she's write this chapter for me, I was ecstatic! I'm writing something myself for her but yeah. Let's get on with the story! Oh and I ****_did _****actually write some, namely the flash back and the tournament.**

**All rights to their respective owners.**

**_~~Erza POV~~ _****(This is a first)**

**Three months later**

FairyTail has changed for me. For just about everyone who sits at our table as well. It's just not the same. We've always been a group and when someone isn't there anymore everything changes, we're no longer complete. What's worse is that we don't even know why.

I may have confused you but I'll lay it out on the table. Three months ago Lucy, Sting and Natsu went on the assassination. The next day, no one showed up. That was normal, it's been known that her requests have lasted multiple days however it _didn't_ last two or three days, it went on much longer. After they had been gone a week Wendy had burst into the guild, out of breath. On that day, only myself, a depressed Gray-less Juvia and Mira, who was on break at the time, were present. I managed to calm her down and between gasps she managed to squeeze out a sentence.

"I went *pant* to Lucy's apartment *cough* to give it a clean and…" She stopped to catch her breath. "She was in her bed." The second she finished the sentence I was out the door, sprinting for Lucy's apartment. I crashed through the front door raced up the stairs entered the already open door to her room. When I entered I looked over to the bed to see a huge lump laying in it, as I closed in I could tell that it really was Lucy. It wasn't long before more footsteps could be heard coming up the stairs.

"LUCY! You've been here the whole time!?" Mira ran up and knelt next to Lucy's bedside. "Why are you _here?_ How long have you been here?" Lucy grunted and turned over to face us.

"Since Monday."

"That's when you left! You came back the same day! Why didn't you come see us?!" Mira seemed really flustered. I think I was in too much shock to say anything, this was _not_ Lucy. At least the one I had come to know.

"Natsu wasn't back, so I didn't leave." She seemed almost soulless, and why was she talking about Natsu and not Sting? But if Lucy's here…

"Where are they?" I knelt down next to Mira and began to interrogate Lucy.

"I don't know where Natsu is. He disappeared and Sting… he, he…" She hiccupped and rubbed her eye. "I can't tell you until Natsu comes back. He promised that we'd tell you guys together, so I didn't leave and that's why I'm here." Her eyes were red and puffy and the bed was littered with tissues and toilet paper, evidence of heavy crying. In all the years I've known her though, she's never even shed a tear.

"Why can't you tell us?"

"Because I don't want too." She turned back over and curled up tighter.

And that was when we found her. She stays in her room most of the time and when we see her in the guild hall, she just keeps to herself. Natsu and Sting still haven't made their appearance, and it's just been so long. Master was furious when he found out that Natsu had just up and left without any notice. Personally, I am fed up of this.

"We need to do something about this." For a change I was sat at the bar talking to Mira with Juvia seeing as everyone else was gone again.

"Yes of course, but what do we do? Lucy just mopes." Juvia pointed out.

"I have an idea." Mira said with one of those looks spreading across her face.

"What idea?"

"Well, it's more like a plan of action. Four simple steps in order to get Lucy back to, well you know, Lucy, and to find out exactly what happened." Mira stated with a smile on her face.

"Do tell." Juvia replied, a spark of interest flaring in her eyes.

"Okay, Step One: take Lucy on a Wizards Holiday." This is basically a place where we can use magic at our free will, not having to worry about any law. It's quite literally a break where we don't have to worry about being killed for just being us.

"So which place are we going to?"

"Ah ha! Well, that's where this comes in." Mira pulled a piece of paper out from a pocket and unfolded it. "It's a place in the mountains owned by some people Elfman helped a couple of years back. They offered to give us a free stay in return. On the website it may look pretty normal and boring, but when you delve deeper…" She went quiet towards the end and pointed to a symbol that was part of the logo. Most people wouldn't even notice this, just take it as the logo. But practically all wizards who still exist knew what this meant. "Elfman called them yesterday and it's confirmed. I have two six-bedroom rooms reserved. Take a read, I printed all the details off their website, obviously the details about magical practice is in code. I think we should let Lucy talk to them about that herself she would be more comfortable that way." Pushing the sheet forward, me and Juvia read the details.

**Three days later**

"Lucy, I'm not letting you say no." I commanded a sulking blond girl who lay huddled in her bed.

After carefully looking through the details and security of this … 'Resort', me and Levy had come round Lucy's house in the hopes to convince her. So far it was failing.

"I don't want to go on holiday. I just want to stay at home. Leave me alone and get on with your lives." She moaned burying herself deeper in her duvet.

"Lu-chan, we're worried about you. We can't get on with our lives worrying. So come on, you need this or else, well, let's just say you don't want _that_ to happen, it's been ages since you went on one." Levy crouched down by Lucy's bed.

No one wanted _that _to happen to them. I'll explain, when a mage doesn't use or practice their magic for a while, their magic becomes out of control. A wizard could be walking down the street and suddenly create a blizzard, or flood the town. They could freeze it over completely, that's what happened to Gray a few years back. It's never been easy to cover up. Most disasters are caused by a wizard overloaded with magic.

After a minute or two of obvious debate, Lucy in all her sorry sate, emerged from under her duvet.

"I want to look at this place." She demanded.

"Yes, you can. Come to the guild with us and Mira will set you up on the line. There you can talk to them about everything." I offered my hand out to her.

"No, I don't want to." Lucy flinched away.

Another couple of minutes passed going round in the same circles. Eventually she came to the guild and phoned the resort. All the while she was on to them, Me, Levy, Gajeel, Mira, Wendy, Gray and Juvia hoped and prayed that they would say the right things to convince her. A while later she hung up and looked at us. Everyone was silent.

"So?" Juvia broke the silence.

Lucy just nodded her head but that was all it took for everyone to get up and cheer.

A week later, all 8 of us were standing in the middle of no where, already tired of Lucy's complaints, making our way towards our destination. Mira said that it was called 'The Hakabe Mountain Inn', but for some reason she constantly called it a resort. Little did we know that our cabin was only a few steps away.

The place was breathtaking, although it may have been the relief that we had finally arrived. Isolated in a large forest, it was the perfect place to train and let go. The reception was a Scandinavian style wooden cabin with a small porch. Several other similar buildings surrounded it, presumably the lodges we would stay in.

"Okay, so we get her to relive her magic power but, what then?" I asked after I had finished reading the brochure for the millionth time.

"That's the next step. Step 2: we get Lucy to start drinking blood again." She proposed this like it was something so simplistic; brain dead people would be able to do it.

"Mira, we've tried this already, it's impossible!" Juvia commented with traces of sadness and exhaustion.

"Yes, but with the added relaxation Step 1 will bring, she's bound to feel at home in no time. That way she'll fall smoothly back to her old vampiric self." Mira finished with a smile.

I was so caught up in admiring the sight before my eyes; I hadn't noticed Gray beside me.

"You remembered to bring the blood right?"

"Yes. Mira grabbed her blood fridge when we helped Lucy get her luggage together. I emptied the bottle and blood sacks into a cool bag which is now mixed up in my stuff. Oh, I meant that the blood sacks and bottle themselves are in my luggage, not loose blood." I answered pointing my thumb over my shoulder at my things.

Gray glanced back quickly before adding, "And do you know how you're gonna get it down her throat?"

At this I chuckled. "Not exactly. I'm thinking that we give it to her making her think that it's something else entirely."

Gray nodded and we both looked back at Levy and Lucy.

"Uh, it's taken ages to get here. Why don't we just turn back already!" Lucy moaned.

"Come on Lucy, it's practically just around the corner!" Levy was left with the job of persuading her to go forward.

"Yeah little-miss-vampire, I can see it from where I'm standing." Gray shouted at them and was returned by a deathly glare.

"Shut it!"

Ever since Lucy returned from the job she hated anything to do with blood and any nicknames Gray gave her, especially vampire. She'd also stopped giving people nicknames, referring to them only by their first name.

"Hey Lucy! I got you a glass of strawberry sauce." Mira came walking into the room holding a glass full of a thick red substance. She then handed it to a very confused Lucy.

It was the evening of the second day at the resort and we were all in the dinning area about to have dinner. After Mira had sat down Lucy looked over at Levy.

"They serve strawberry sauce in _glasses_ here? That's crazy."

"Just be thankful that Mira didn't get you something _crazier_." Levy was trying hard to suppress her giggles along with Wendy and Mira.

"Liiiike?"

"Piss" Gajeel suggested, as if it was obvious. Gaining a whack on the arm from Levy.

Lucy stared at her glass in a moment of daze before she looked round at the people seated on the table. She started with Levy who was next to her moving onto Gajeel, Wendy, Mira, Juvia who was obviously sat next to Gray and then her eyes met mine on the other side of her. When we made contact she narrowed her eyes.

"This _isn't_ sauce… is it?" She moved her glare back again.

"What if it isn't? Drink up, you don't want to waste it." I replied whilst everyone else was silent out of guilt.

We all wanted the old Lucy back. Even if it did mean she drank blood, it was part of her that we missed. Even if only a little. She returned her gaze to the glass, observing the crimson liquid. I could tell mixtures of emotions were battling in her head. Stubbornness with not wanting to let us down. Loyalty, sadness, and some thing rare for Lucy, fear. If she ever felt this emotion she was good at hiding it, but not right now. Slowly she reached a shaky hand out to the cocktail glass, raised it steadily to her lips and took a sip. Swallowing she placed the glass down.

"It's blood?" She muttered shooting daggers into everyone.

Some people broke into grins whilst others said things like 'You'll be back to your old self in no time'. You could feel the annoyance radiating off of her but she forced out a smile. As much as she ever tried to make us happy, I could tell she really didn't want to be in company in the first place.

A few days passed since that evening and slowly Lucy started drinking more and more blood. Her old habits had begun to return and she complained less. We have done a few fun activities like hiking, swimming, kayaking in the lake, and with every new activity she became more comfortable. More willing to take it head on than the last.

"The next step may have to wait a couple of days at the resort for her to relax a bit. Step 3: We get her training again. Using both her magic and weapons."

"Maybe we could set up a fake mission for her?" Juvia suggested.

"Hmm… she wouldn't want to do that though. She's been steering clear of missions and killing in general. I think a tournament would be enough." I pointed out.

"Good idea. As long as we get her using some form of offense then she'll be fine." Mira cheerfully smiled and clapped. "What shall be the prize!?"

"How about that huge ice cream thing that's meant to be shared, I'd consider it enough for a prize. And it would be free for the winner, obviously." I proposed to the other two.

"Juvia thinks it sounds good."

"Then it's decided. Ill go and talk to the owners about the prize. You two start planning the rounds." Mira promptly turned on her heels and left for reception. Juvia and I began going through everything.

**_~~Mira POV~~_**

"Okay guys. So we decided that one of the best ways to let the power loose would be to hold a tournament where we go all out. Weapons are allowed but no sever injuries are permitted. In the first round everyone will participate in one match. The victors of the rounds will move into one group and the losers will go into another. There you will go against another person with the group you have been put in. The two victors from group A, the group with the previous winners, will go head to head. The two losers from group B, the other group, will then go head to head as well. The victor from group A gets the prize, the boat float from the café, and the loser from group B shall pay for it." Erza explained to everyone else. It wasn't that confusing but we had think hard on who would go against who for the first round.

We all moved to the magic ground with the protective barrier around it to start. Two groups would go at a time and the people who weren't duelling would referee. First up was Juvia versus Gray and Gajeel versus Erza. I refereed Juvia's match while Levy refereed Erza's. In the end Gray and Erza came out victorious and Juvia and Gajeel losing. Juvia didn't want to harm Gray in anyway and let him win whereas Erza, being one of the strongest wizards in FairyTail, thrashed Gajeel. The next matches were me against Wendy and Lucy against Levy. I was sad that I couldn't watch though. I was looking forward to seeing how Wendy fought, being a halfling and all. She was a surprisingly tough opponent but I won in the end. Lucy won the other match pretty unsurprisingly. I suspected that Levy let her win to boost her confidence because both of them come out unscathed while Wendy and I were pretty battered up.

"Well done Lucy!" I ran over to her to congratulate her.

"Levy let me win." She complained. "I hope I get to beat the crap out of Gray later." She was staring up at the sky.

"I don't know, Erza is picking the battles."

In round two, we split into the groups. First time around the matches were Wendy against Levy and me with Lucy. I wouldn't just 'let her win' and I'm pretty sure she knew that as well. The battle was fierce. I transformed into Satan Soul and Lucy summoned Virgo along with pulling out her favourite whip. I knew how deadly she could get with that thing but we seemed evenly matched. We threw spells back and forth and I got to witness the celestial powers she possessed at full capacity, spirits _and_ spells. We got increasingly tired as the match dragged on. Levy and Wendy had finished ages ago. Finally Lucy caught my ankles with her whip and I fell, the exhaustion adding to the impact. She then got on top of my and pinned me down, rendering me helpless. Lucy was declared victor and the next set commenced. Oh yeah, Wendy won the other match. Erza and Gray fought and so did Gajeel and Juvia. Erza was transferred to the finals and Juvia lost the other match.

"Wendy, do you think we could get some help?" Lucy called over to Wendy who rushed over to us.

"Sure, hold still a second." She started fixing up Lucy first so that she could fight Erza as soon as possible. Once she was finished I received my treatment while Lucy went off to find Erza.

"Who are you placing your bets on?" I asked Wendy.

"I say Erza wins. She has more magical skill, plus a bigger defence. I don't mean to say Lucy can't win it's just that Erza is renowned for her strength." Wendy began to reason with me.

"Yeah, I agree. Hardly anyone has ever beaten Erza." We began to chat when Gray called us over. We stood up and headed towards the others.

"Mira, you're going to referee Levy and Juvia's match." Erza informed me.

"But I want to watch your match with Lucy." I moaned, giving Erza puppy dog eyes.

"Don't worry, our match will commence after theirs has finished."

"Oh good, let's get this thing started then."

In the end it was decided that Levy would be paying unfortunately. Juvia was actually a very strong mage, she had just gone up against people she couldn't win against. So when it came to her fighting Levy, they were matched better but Juvia was still stronger. Then Erza and Lucy's match started. Lucy was back to normal and so was Erza, they were undoubtedly drained of magical energy though. The magical aura was greatly lowered, especially with Lucy. Our fight had taken a toll on both of us.

"So Lucy… I was thinking," Lucy and Erza were stood in the marked area about to start. "what if we made this a hand to hand combat match."

"But… that lowers your likely hood of winning." Lucy looked confused at Erza's choice not to use her precious armour.

"Yeah, it's been ages since we had a fight and I thought you might prefer it. Plus my magic is based solely based upon combat. I can find my way around a sword just as well as you can any other weapon." Erza picked up a plain broadsword and pointed it at Lucy.

"Whatever. I'm fine with it. I feel amazing actually, this combat had really made me feel better guys. Thanks. So let's get on with this!" Lucy seemed really fired up and pulled out a machete and hooked a few throwing knives to her belt. With both ready, they took on the battle stance and the battle commenced.

**_~~Erza POV~~_**

I'm happy to see that Lucy is feeling better but I do feel a little threatened by the assassin's instinct gleaming in her eyes. The thirst for blood was evident by the way she licked her lips as she stared at me greedily. Maybe I didn't miss _this_ side to Lucy so much, but you get the entire package. I was the first to make a move elegantly slicing my sword through the air towards her to meet the strong block that rung out from her machete. I knew here I had the advantage with the weapon that moved with ease but if I were hit too many times it would be a matter of time before my arm wore out over the force. I had to go for the offense. Lucy was moving quickly for someone holding weapon as she had, the blade moved quickly through the air, clumsily, but quickly. The clash of my sword on hers continued for at least ten minutes. We were both getting gradually tired and our arms were growing weak with every blow. The sound of metal upon metal was deafening and Levy had adorned a pair of earmuffs.

"This has been going on for a while." I commented between breaths.

"Too right, had we chosen a magic battle this would be much easier, for both of us. You got tons better since we last fought." She made an attempt at chuckling which came out as more of a pant.

"Definitely, we were but young children then though. You had gone through much more intensive training then I had at that time."

"Yeah, father regretted that." We shut up for a little while just allowing the swords to do the talking. The clash and the ringing was a lovely sound though, something I had missed.

"So, when are we gonna end this?" I asked, getting a little annoyed at the lack of dominance from either of us. We were evenly matched here.

"I dunno, maybe when one of us gets a good idea." She huffed, the slight humour in the words not showing upon her face.

"I would have thought that your killing blow would have come by now."

"I wait for that, plus I'm not trying to kill you. I couldn't even if I wanted to."

"Sure, but we can still pin each other."

"How much fun would a fist fight be right now?"

"Tons, settling things like men" We both chuckled at my remark. "Wanna?"

"Hmm… I don't want to completely exclude weapons though; a fight without weapons is in no way a good one." She shrugged the best she could in this situation.

"Then how about no swords, magic and long weapons. Nothing that extends more than a foot away from our hands?" I suggested.

"Nice, sounds great." She instantly dropped her machete and took a swing at the left side of my face. In return I dropped my own sword and swerved under her swing. Taking advantage of my position I aimed a kick at her leg, of which she jumped over. This fist fight went on for another five minutes with us both getting a lot more damaged then when we had the weapons. But it was when I wiped my forehead when we were both a good distance apart that the match came to a close. Lucy ran at me aiming straight for my face. I grabbed her arm and crouched down so that I could swing her over my back, but I forgot to let go of her arm so I managed to go flying as well. We landed with a sickening crunch and both stayed down.

"That's gonna have to be a tie! Anymore fighting and someone will get seriously hurt!" Mira shouted from the side line. We both grunted in approval.

An hour later I was sat at a table next to Lucy with the biggest bowl I've ever seen in my life sitting in front of me, filled to the brim with ice cream of every kind.

"This is… wow. Thanks Levy!" Lucy shouted over her shoulder looking very happy at the sight in front of her.

"This looks amazing. Feel free to dig in, I just need to go talk to Juvia and Mira quickly." I excused myself and exited the room the meet the two in question. "So, step four?" I asked waiting for the final step.

"Juvia believes that a step four is not necessary. Lucy is back to normal is she not?" Juvia asked Mira.

"No step four is vital, and extremely difficult to complete. So we need have patience." Mira explained.

"What is this difficult task then?" I questioned, slightly uneasy.

"Step 4. Find Natsu"

**It's over! YES! I can now write chapter nine. I've been looking forward to this, it's gonna be amazing! Somehow the most difficult chapter to write is the longest by far… Oh well, here's what Stephano has to say (that's not her actual name though.**

A/N: (but not from the author) Hey, yes it's me! The annoying person called stephie988 who keeps commenting on this (Stephano Armano in the FNN). So I just wanna say, blame me for the whole hold up for this chapter, completely my fault. So sorry, was meant to be out on Sun but I am useless so she will never ask for help again. Hope you enjoyed this chap and she will update more regularly (Hopefully!) Yep this is me going and um…I hate fish so, CAKE!

**I had no input to this note and I personally have no idea why she said what she said, I was very happy with the chapter and I also love the personal fanfiction she's writing. If you want me to post it with anonymous names I will, just say. (psst, it's hilarious!) This was Alpha, so long and thanks for the fish! (I don't like fish much either, it's just a happy reference)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey um… hey. It's been a while huh. Sorry, writers block is stupid and I've passed it now, it dissipated. Anyway, here it is. I may not post for quite a while because of computer issues. My main computer is my laptop, and it's currently in the process of breaking… it doesn't connect to the internet very well. It disconnects after three minutes of being powered on, therefore it's really difficult to post chapters. I know, no Wifi? I'm not dying, I have a phone. Don't worry. But until we fix the problem or I get a new laptop I won't be posting anything. I had already started this so I finished it but I won't start the next until my problem is resolved. Anyway, we're nearly finished and I'm sorry if it's not a very good finale but this is my first fic. So I'll shut up and let you read now! (^w^)/ **

**All rights to their respective owners**

**DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW! I love reading them all. (I'll read them on my phone)**

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_Previously_

"_Step 4, Find Natsu"_

* * *

_**~~Erza POV~~**_

"Wait what?" I exclaimed. "That's going to be impossible! He could be anywhere!"

"Juvia agrees, we can take this step seriously but there is no guarantee that we will be able to find him in her life time." Juvia added.

"You don't think I know that? This is only if we can. She has a huge secret weighing on her chest and if he isn't here, she can't push it off." Mira reasoned with us. Only if we can…

"So…if we just happen to find him… we drag him here?" I asked, getting my facts straight.

"Yes, I know this will be nearly impossible but we need to at least try. That's what important with this. Now… lets go watch you stuff your face with ice cream." And with that Mira pushed past us back into the dining room. We followed soon after and I took my seat in front of Lucy.

"Yay! We can start!" Lucy picked up her sundae spoon and dug it to a huge scoop of strawberry ice cream. I saw a scoop of Pistachio and decided to have a taste. It was heavenly! I took more and more and stuffed it into my face. Lucy had a bowl of blood in front of her and occasionally would dip her spoon in or just take a sip. A few minutes later the whole thing was gone and we were leaning back in our chairs, stuffed to the brim.

"That looked really good." Gray was moping, it was well known how much he liked ice cream.

"It's okay Gray-sama! Juvia shall get you a bowl!" Juvia piped up, her expression lighting up like a Christmas tree.

"Nah, it's fine. I'll get one tomorrow. If I'm honest, I'm knackered." He shrugged and headed for the door. "I see you guys later, oh and sorry if when you come in I'm asleep Gajeel!" He shouted as he exited. Eventually everyone left and we were all in our lodges. Gray and Gajeel were the only two guys and Mira had booked two six bedroom lodges for some reason but we had six girls so…

* * *

It was really late seeing as I had been thinking a lot about finding that little bitch while just lying in bed. My mind had enough so I was trying to fall asleep, that was when I heard a _**THUMP**_ coming from outside. If I had to guess it was from around the reception area, mainly because it sounded close and we were lodged just across from it. I jumped down from my bunk (we had bunk beds) and started shaking the sleeping Mira below me.

"_Mira! Psst, wake up. I heard something… MIRA!_" I started to push her around more until she stirred.

"What is i~~~t…" She waved me off and snuggled further under her sheets.

"I _heard_ something though! Get up!" I pulled her out of bed and she landed with a much quieter _**thump**_ on the floor.

"NO! ERZA STOP!" Mira quietly yelled at me and sat back on her bunk. "Don't wake me up!" Then we heard another louder _**THUMP**_ which caused our heads to turn to the door. We immediately pulled on a coat and a pair of shoes and rushed outside to see what the commotion was about. As we ran out the door we were met by Gray and Gajeel.

"You heard it too?" Gray asked as we all walked towards reception.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"Who knows." As we rounded the corner what we saw was nothing as we expected. I stopped in my tracks immediately and just stared, opened mouthed. The scene before us was… unbelievable, to say the least. Two guys, fighting… fist fighting. HAD I NOT HAD ENOUGH! What was worse was _who_ was fighting… it was Natsu and Jellal. I've known Jellal since I was little and yea, we are both mages, but I never expected him to be _here_ with _NATSU_ of all people.

"What the FUCK are you doing!" I stormed up to them screaming at the top of my lungs. I kicked Jellal in the gut and grabbed Natsu by the ear. "PACK IT IN!" I screamed this into Natsu's ear and the pain was _very _evident.

"This is useful." Mira, who was now off to the side was giggling to herself.

"You can say that again."

_**~~Lucy POV~~**_

"LUCY! WAKE UP!" I was harshly forced awake by someone shaking my shoulders back and forth. "COME ON! Oh wait, she's stirring. God you sleep like a rock." Mira was stood over me, complaining.

"I'm sorry, but I was beat up yesterday, what do you expect?" I sat up, groaning. If Erza had let go that wouldn't have been so bad. I bent my arm awkwardly and it aches like hell. Almost as bad as the time I had to kill that star wrestler. He fought back, that put me out of business for a few.

"Really, I never expected this." I heard Levy's voice from the other side of the room.

"Was I really the only one left asleep?" I scratched my head and yawned.

"You need to get dressed, immediately." Mira nervously looked over her shoulder then back down at me and what I was wearing. I had only my pants **(****she was wearing knickers or underwear for my american audience) **and an oversized t-shirt. "Definitely… and do it over here, don't leave the bed." She turned and went over to my luggage. My clothes went all over the room as she threw them left right and centre.

"Hey! Those are my things you're disrespecting!" I made to stand up but suddenly Juvia was on top of me, preventing me from getting up. "What're you doing!"

"Mira stop. Lucy stay, for the sake of everyone." Juvia turned and began to usher Mira and pick up my clothes, Levy started looking through it and picked out something simple.

"Thanks Lev." I took what she gave me and started getting dressed… awkwardly. Dressing on a bed was never easy, I'd done it before. "So why exactly am I getting changed here, I mean we're all girls aren't we? Or are we, because if we're all in fact guys that doesn't really make a difference." I stood up, adjusting my bra underneath my top. I looked around Mira was bickering with Juvia and Levy was sat on her bed opposite mine. Erza was nowhere to be found and Wendy was down the other end of the cabin but she wasn't alone. She seemed to be talking to someone but she was blocking whoever it was from my view.

"Errm… Wendy…" I began to walk towards her and when I saw to whom she was talking a fell back onto Mira's bed, of which I was stood next to. "What's he doing here!?" Of all the people. And what was he doing here. _He has sooo much to answer for_. I stormed right up to him and punched him straight in the face.

"Fuck, seriously. I didn't want to run into you either!" He stood up and started to yell.

"Why did you disappear? You did nothing wrong. It was my fault!" I yelled back. The other girls were either stock still or had their face in their hands.

"I had to do something! For your information I went back to Crocus!"

"And that takes three months!?" I could practically feel the steam erupting from my ears.

"We're gonna leave you two alone." The girls made their way out one by one leaving us alone. I turned around and sunk into Mira's bed again.

"Why were you gone…?" I calmed down and asked the question through my hands. "I needed you here. Do you know how hard it's been."

"Look I'm sorry but I had to go back. Just let me explain." He came and sat next to me.

"Fine… Natsu, tell me what happened."

"Okay, so I went back to Crocus… to see Sting," I just looked at him blankly. "He was held in gaol (**Yes I am **_**that**_** British, and I'm proud of it**) for three days and I was allowed through to see him. He was fine… not scared in the least but then again, we never are. Anyway he asked me to get something for him but I still haven't found it. Why I'm here though? Jellal dragged me along…" He trailed off and started staring into space. The silence that fell was horrible. When I was sure he wasn't going to speak again I decided to him ask something.

"What did he want you to find?" He looked down at me and sighed.

"It was some sort of... red dagger? I looked everywhere he lived, went, talked about but Nada. Zilch. I went back to Sabertooth a million times, didn't find it." He shrugged and I had to stifle a giggle.

"It's back home… along with my other knives." The look of his face, it looked like he could cry.

"Shit… you're serious! Could he not have told me that!? God…"

"It's fine, we're going back tonight… but we're gonna have to tell the others now…" I patted his shoulder and stood up. I made my way over to the door and slipped some shoes on. "You coming?" I looked back at him. It was now that I realized how dirty he was. _At least he's not coated in blood; his hair's still pink, not brown._

"Yeah, sure…" he followed after me and we made our way outside, over to the café on site.

_**~~Natsu POV~~**_

As we entered, everyone was sat at various tables. I felt sorry for Jellal who was being lectured by Erza, and especially after we had been traveling all night. One sign of looking bored or tired, and he's dead. I bet he already knows that though.

"Hey guys!" Wendy waved at us, slowly the other heads turned in our direction.

"Lucy… I'm sorry to have to ask this but can you tell us now?" Mira had stood up and was looking at Lucy in a sorry fashion.

"Um… yeah. I think I have to." We sat down and began to repeat what happened.

* * *

When it was over no one seemed to know what to say, it was probably best that no one said anything. The day passed quickly and soon we were on our way back to Magnolia. We managed to all fit into the cars parked at the bottom of the mountain. The journey was long; and quiet. Thankfully most of us managed to fall asleep. My heart went out to Erza and Gray, who had to drive the twelve hour journey. Traveling by train was one thing, but by car it was a lot slower. Roads tended to take a longer route around, twisting and winding up and down hills. Jellal and I had come by train from Crocus and that journey was a _lot _quicker, however painful it may have felt. Jellal didn't spend much time with anyone with motion sickness so never carried around those life savers Lucy had introduced me to.

A few hours later I felt myself plummeting back to earth, or maybe I should say rising? I had a quick scan of the vehicle. Only guys were in here, Gray up front with a reading Jellal and myself next to Gajeel who was loudly snoring and heavily drooling in his sleep.

_Eww…_

The scenes flying by looked familiar and more suburban. The houses were quaint and looked almost like a dream. I could only really imagine the happy families that lived within… or the unhappy but even that must be better than my predicament. In eighty years I would be killing my own father in _ceremony_, preparing to inherit the whole of hell. Frankly, I could see that not happening though. Dad was very happy where he already was and didn't really want to die. He would probably follow the actions of Lucifer the VIII, who killed his son instead. His reign went on for millennia until my great, great gramps killed him, being a stray halfling himself. Now that I thought about it, I was barely related to first guy at all. Everyone downstairs was eligible to be in charge, but they had to be at least part human. _My life is _so_ overly complicated. I just wish I could stay here forever…_

"Yo, Ice princess, how much longer!?" I yelled at Gray in the front. I heard the snarl pass his lips at the name but he then proceeded to answer.

"We entered Magnolia a few minutes ago." He sounded tired and a slight slur could be heard in his pronunciation.

"You sound like shit."

"That maybe because I feel like it. How could I ever get Erza to talk me into a 12 hour drive?" He sighed and returned his gaze to the road, shoulders slumping accompanied by a yawn.

"Natsu," I looked to Jellal who was trying to get my attention. "You sleep like a dog." I just stared at him blankly.

"Wait, what?"

"You sleep like a dog. We stopped for lunch earlier. You didn't even move when we tried to wake you up, and when we nearly had a crash due to Gray falling asleep at the wheel. You didn't make a sound. You just grunted." Jellal was smiling to himself. "Gajeel woke up, and look at him." He turned in his seat to look at the big snoring mess of black.

"I guess. It comes with growing up in the loudest hell hole in existence, quite literally. It's really loud there, especially at home. Only quiet places around where I lived were the soldier's chambers." I smiled to myself this time, remembering when I still lived in darkness. It wasn't bad, not at all. But it's nicer up on the surface. Despite the global problems, we had none of those. The atmosphere is toxic anyway.

The remainder of the journey was quiet. Gajeel woke up quarter of an hour later and quiet conversation took place. Mainly about hell, he hadn't been there. His mother brought him up and she was human.

When we finally reappeared outside the Fairy Tail bar, it felt like heaven. Erza had to come and help Gray out of the vehicle. I went over to the other car to find Lucy sleeping peacefully. Without realizing it, a gentle smile had crossed my face and Mira had seen it.

"Aww, the demon does have a heart." I snapped my head to look at her to be met by giggles.

"I thought you knew I was half human. I naturally have feelings, that's really offensive." I knew I was joking but it was honest. Saying stuff like that to normal halflings could result in you being their next meal.

"I'm sorry. I know, I mean I know three others… well, two others I guess." Her face instantly fell and I felt a twang in my heart.

"I'm sorry. It just happened…" She forced a smile and I stopped mid-sentence.

"It's fine. It's natural. Anyway, everyone is born to die…"

"That's not actually true…" She looked at me, puzzled. "Between me and you, unless we're killed downstairs, Wendy, Gajeel and I can't physically die. We just vanish and go home. We can't control it, it just happens." I winked at her, picked up Lucy and left, leaving Mira looking back at me in disbelief.

* * *

When I arrived at Lucy's I pulled her keys out of the bag she had brought to the mountain and unlocked the door. Once I had properly entered her apartment and set her down on her bed, I plopped myself on her sofa. Resting my hands behind my head and letting out a long sigh. Who would have thought that a wizards holiday with Jellal who had relaxed in a couple of _years_ miraculously, would have led to me ending up here again. _Hmm, I wonder where that knife is. It's probably important so I should just wait for Lucy to wake up_. It didn't take long though because she suddenly sat up and looked around.

"Oh, hey Natsu… wait why are you in my room!?" Lucy seemed confused and panicked.

"You fell asleep in the car so I brought you back here. Anyway where's that knife? As soon as I have possession of that thing I can finally relax and start to settle into the idea of eighty years up here." I looked to Lucy. All she did was nod, stand up and walk over to her cupboard.

"Here, he gave this to me last year, telling me never to open it." She pulled out a small knife encased in a blood red sheath. "I guessed he gave it to because it looks like blood but it must be more important." She handed it over and I twirled it around in my fingers. Carefully I grabbed the handle and began to pull it open. The blade shined a brilliant red and I instantly realized what it was.

"I had no _fucking_ idea he owned one of _these?_ Whoa, I've only ever seen my fathers and his is millions of years old. 'Effing hell this is beautiful!" Lucy was now even more confused, looking at me with a very puzzled expression.

"What is…?" Suddenly a loud knock on the door was heard. I put the knife back into its sheath and went to open the door before Lucy got a chance to react. This would be too dangerous for her to have to deal with. As the door flung open, it revealed someone I never actually expected to see again.

_**~~Lucy POV~~**_

"Natsu, what's wrong…?" He suddenly burst out laughing and made way for whoever was at the door.

"WOW! Long-time no see dude!" He slapped the guest on the back, smiling from ear to ear.

"Yes… Natsu… Please, enough with the touching."

"No!" He slung his arm around the visitor's shoulder in a hearty one armed hug. "How could I not hug an old friend. I haven't seen you in years!" He continued to laugh but the person next to him looked very uncomfortable. It was only a matter of time before Natsu's friend caught sight of me. He shrugged Natsu's arm off and his sheepish grimace turned very serious.

"You must be Miss Lucy Heartfilia, member of the old Fairy Tail guild, professional assassin." The serious look pierced into my soul and I found myself speechless. I managed to nod my head though, causing the serious look to morph once again, but this time into a gentler smile.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," The visitor was a man of lean build. His hair and eyes reminded me slightly of Gajeel as his hair was dark black and his eyes red and piercing. He was much smaller though, considering how Gajeel tended to tower above everyone and his hair was _way _shorter too, it came down to the base of his neck. He looked nice enough though. "I'm Rogue Cheney, I've heard a lot about you."

"Um… err, yeah. It's nice to meet you too. However, may I ask how you know so much about me?" He was nice enough but he knew too much for my comfort.

"I'm one of the commanders down, back home. I'm a halfling also. I was very close with Sting." Oh… right. _So this guy is a demon as well. Why are there so many?!_ My mind was racing and I was at my peak. So he knew Sting, but as far as I knew Sting hadn't been back to hell since he met me. But somehow he still knows who I am, without leaving his post…

"Still… how do you know about me?" I asked again, looking him directly in the eye.

"Sting told me about you, is that not obvious? He had lots to say on the matter, never shut up about you. Or how he got to see Natsu again, that seemed to have excited him. Then he went into depressing matters like he had to…"

"Yes, but how do you know? Sting is dead… And he only saw Natsu again like… three days before he got dragged of by the council army?" I was frustrated and it showed. But Rogue and Natsu just burst out laughing. My eyes widened in shock at the insensitivity, but they seemed to know something I didn't. "What…?"

"You seriously haven't told her?" Rogue looked to Natsu, red and panting from lack of breath.

"Oh yeah, I haven't have I. I'm stupid aren't I. Ha, I even told Mira!" After calming down, Natsu turned to me. "Lucy, halflings are the only demons that can come up here, right. However, they are still demons. You may not know this but there are tons of different dimensions and shit that we can all traverse through. Only, some species can't go to certain ones. Anyway that's beside the point. A species can only die where they were born. Seeing as no halfling can ever be born up here, they can't die up here. They just go home. Dissipate, disappear, vanish, teleport, whatever takes your fancy. Sting is just back at home. He can't come back though, for moral reasons. He's been there three months." He was smiling but I could feel the anger bubbling up inside me. I didn't get it, but I now know that he was alive and no one had dared tell me?

"SHIT!" I yelled and flopped back onto the couch. Natsu face instantly changed and he sat next to me. Worry crossing his features.

"That hurt, didn't it?" He sounded guilty and he rested his hand on my shoulder lightly. I turned to looked at him, possibly a little to coldly.

"Ya think?" Pain flashed across his eyes and it was my turn to feel regret. "Haaa, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to… I just… it's a bit of a shock." I wrapped my arms around him and gave him a quick squeeze. "It just takes a little to get used to." I flashed my teeth and stood back up, turning to Rogue.

"Yes?" He sensed that I wanted to interrogate him again.

"Why are you here?" My eyes narrowed and I had a huge urge to grab the knife sitting in my lamp.

"Because you called." His face had turned stone cold, the tense atmosphere causing all three of us to feel uneasy.

"We… called? What do you mean?"

"You unsheathed the calling card so I came, mine lit up so I arrived at its location." He looked down at Natsu, who was still holding the knife. "I gave that to Sting before he left."

"Oh! That's why this seems so familiar. It's _that_ knife. Wow, I had no idea it was one of _them_." He looked down at the small knife in his hands, opening it again. A bright light emitted from a belt fastened around Rogues waist "Aww, cool! I wonder whose Dad's contacts?"

"You could come and ask, I'm taking Lucy back anyway." Rogue pointed out… Wait…

"What!? Going _back_ with you? Why would I ever do that?! I'm quite happy here." I folded my arms and stood my ground.

"No, you're coming. Sting told me that if I was called that I had to take you back with me. Apparently he told Natsu to find it, so… yeah. Anyway, I'm sure you want to say goodbye. He does." Rogue just shrugged.

"Lucy… come on. Let's just go." Natsu was now next to me. He looked a little fed up but suddenly a little nauseous. Home sick maybe? "Please?"

"Fine, I'll go, but I want to be home by tomorrow." Rogue nodded and Natsu smiled with what looked like relief. "I always hoped I'd never have to go to hell."

"Don't worry it's great!"

* * *

**Okay, shit ending right? Haha, anyway. This is farewell for now. I'll start to write as soon as I get permanent WiFi. Anyway quick notice, I have two other fics in the planning process. One of them is a GaLe one (hence my FT OTP) but recently I became obsessed with Hetalia, you know the one… Anyway, I'm trying to write one for that if anyone's interested. If not, I'll hit that fandom if you aren't part of it. Don't worry, I'll still write FT shit, I'm just gonna widen my demographic… yeah…**

**DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW! Especially if you have any ideas for stories or one-shots you want me to write, I'll do my absolute best!**

**This was Alpha, so long and thanks for the fish!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey guys, guess what! My laptop is still broken! Whoo... yeah, I'm going through hell. Our family computer is painfully slow booting up and constantly stops responding. But it's fine, I can write the stories on my laptop and post them on the family one. It's worth the pain to get this out to you guys and to read any reviews I receive. It really does feel amazing to have people out there who like to read what I write! Okay one last sappy thing, I love you guys so much and I'm glad to be able to write for you lovely people, okay moment over. I have a little bit of an update at the bottom (regarding other stories) so if your interested in finding out more then do, but I'll leave you now to read. Oh and if you spot any typos or whatever, tell me and I'll fix 'em.**

"Okay so… how do we get there?" I looked at the two experts who looked at each other. Natsu seemed to be just as curious as I was as to how to get to the underworld.

"Did you bring one? Dad made sure to not let me have one, in case I got sick of it up here and wanted to go back to a life of luxury." He shrugged and watched as Rogue began to search through one of his pockets. Eventually, after a lot of searching he pulled out something similar to an amulet I owned back in the days of my childhood. Despite the being ignored I got showered with riches and dresses and jewellery. Had I been any other girl I would have been the happiest girl in the world. At least I would have thought I was… it seemed that blood-lust ran in my genetics.

"Here, I borrowed it from the head of my department. It wasn't easy, he's such an arrogant bastard, and I practically had to beg him for it. Well, when I say beg I mean kiss his ass; you know, like working overtime for nothing." He was spinning it around his finger aimlessly as he went on to Natsu who seemed to be listening intently. "I've had it for years now, he hasn't asked for it back so I didn't give it back… anyway, let's go." I watched in fascination as he pulled it through the air. As it moved it seemed to rip the atmosphere in half completely, revealing a huge gash full of something that was either purple or red. I couldn't tell because the colour kept changing, it was almost magical and reminded me a bit of when Mira would get mad.

"Come on then." Natsu seemed to be waiting for me to go through the tear. I nodded then cautiously walked towards it, making sure not to do anything wrong. I put my hand through it just to be sure that I be fine when suddenly I felt a huge force on my back and before I knew it I was completely through the… whatever it actually is. The other side was strange; it was very dark but dimly lit. I could just make out Rogue fiddling with something on his belt. Soon enough though, I was being crushed by Natsu who had jumped straight through without taking any precautions.

"Ow, you idiot think about things before you go through with it. That hurts." I shoved him off roughly and stood up. Brushing myself off, I looked to Rogue and asked, "What next?"

"We prepare you." He then returned to pulling objects out of his bag then putting them back in only to look through something else and return to double check a few minutes later.

"We need the stuff right?" Natsu had stood up himself. Rogue just nodded. "Which one of us is gonna do it though?" Rogue just looked up at him, the longer they looked at each other the more Natsu seemed to get whatever Rogue was trying to tell him. "Sure. You find it and I'll get ready." For some reason Natsu began to make faces and strange noises. I just shook my head and looked around again. There really wasn't much to look at; it looked a bit like an underground tunnel with some sort of ominous light of which had no apparent source.

"I found it." Rogue held up a small vile with chopped up herbs and what looked like berries. It looked a little bit like drugs but it didn't seem to actually be what it is. Natsu turned around with his cheeks puffed and smiled, not opening his mouth once. He accepted the container and opened it, turned around and began making disgusting noises again. After what felt like an hour the noises stopped and he turned back around, smiling like a goofball. He wiped his mouth with his hand and held the vile out to me, of which I took slightly unsure. When I inspected it I saw that it had been filled with a clear, gloopy liquid and the other herbs and berries that were originally inside the container were floating around and beginning to dissolve. However there were two distinct facts about the vile that I noticed. The liquid had a small layer of foam inside for one, and that the vile was warm?

"Did you… did you really…?" I shuddered at the thought. Blech! And he expected me to DRINK this? Oh god that's foul. "You sick _bastard_. I can't believe you wanted me to drink this!" I shoved the vile back in Natsu's hand and felt nausea slowly overwhelm me. However he seemed to be confused that I hadn't chugged it as soon as it was in my hands.

"What's wrong? You need this to survive back home…" his brow was furrowed as he went into deep thought. "Oh… is that a bad thing on the surface?" he looked from me to the vile and back again.

"YES! It's disgusting you idiot! You don't just casually drink someone else's saliva!" I shuddered and shook my head to clear my mind. "I will not drink that." Natsu looked at Rogue who nodded, all Natsu did in response was shrug.

"Be careful, if Sting finds out later he'll have your head on his wall." It was very quiet, but I heard it loud and clear. Rogue's advice was dark and made no sense. I don't see why he would get mad if I drank Natsu's spit. But I soon found out what he meant. Natsu nodded in response then proceeded to open the vile and empty the contents into his own mouth. It was disgusting but as long as it wasn't in my mouth. I was instantly happy at the prospect of the concoction being gone. He brought the bottle from his mouth, and much to my surprise, he was on me in a matter of seconds. Our mouths connected and my eyes went wide. WHAT THE FUCK IS HE DOING! WHY WON'T HE GET OFF ME? WHAT IS HE DOING! I then felt the thick liquid pass through my mouth and instantly started panicking, trying my hardest to push him off of me. He didn't budge though, seeming to allow his full strength to force the stuff down my throat. As soon as it was in my system he pulled away and wiped his mouth clean, slightly panting from the lack of oxygen.

"There we go, now we can get the full way!" He seemed pleased with himself as he turned to Rogue again, who pulled the amulet thingy back out. I was still stood motionless, in complete and utter shock. After the panic had subsided I went into a state of paralysis. "Urgh, come ON!" Natsu grabbed my arm and pulled me through a new opening in the air.

~~Natsu POV~~

Lucy wouldn't move so I had to pull her through the tear Rogue had created. As soon as we passed through, this time we didn't fall, into a familiar place. The area was a breath of fresh air and a happy wave of welcoming washed over me as I looked at the revolting sight of a park.

"Wow, it's great to be home!" I missed this place a lot, despite the surface being a much more attractive place. Growing up in hell helps you become a friend of disgusting landscapes and revolting sights. It's one of the reasons we find it so easy to rip humans limb from limb, like I did for three years, haha. In fact, after doing it for long enough it becomes pretty fun, which is a disturbing thought since the humanity of people seeped into my soul. Well… if I have one.

I looked back down to Lucy who was still a bit dazed. In all honesty I didn't want to do that. Well I did, just not like that. She seemed to dislike it, especially once my saliva passed into hers. I honestly had no idea that drinking another's spit was considered a sick act. It's just a bodily fluid. Then again, on the surface the rivers didn't run blood and entrails didn't flow through them, eventually ending up mutated into animals.

"Eww, this place is gross!" Lucy had seemed to snap out of it and was looking around in disgust.

"What did you expect, daisies littering the surroundings while unicorns rode rainbows?" I asked, smirking. Turning to Rogue I asked, "Is Sting still at his place or does he live elsewhere?" He looked at me for a while then began walking towards the exit. I grabbed Lucy's hand again and began to drag her through the park. It was very different to the main park in Magnolia, but in my mind it was just as pretty. My mind that is… my mind…

"What is the grass made out of?" I looked down in response and answered.

"It's grass, it's fragile and crunchy, basically dead. But it grows that way, a lot more convenient as they don't need watering. Adding blood to it just makes it mutate into squirrels and shit." I started to muse, occasionally looking back to Lucy looking for her reaction.

"Did you say blood? Do the rivers run… blood?" She seemed amazed as she looked around frantically for a view of the river.

"Yep, water is rare down here. You can mine water ore and it comes out as a crystal, often used in medicine but medical care is only available to the wealthiest families. Like mine and our soldiers." Lucy seemed infatuated with the idea of 'Blood Rivers' and when I mentioned water being found as ore her eyes widened.

"Wow, your world is so complicated…"

"Well so is yours." This couldn't be truer. "Things are actually a lot simpler here then up there. Equal rights don't exist so you only need to learn about the higher hierarchy. When we study your world we get confused and have to spend years being trained to survive naturally. I got sent up so early because I understood it enough to survive. Although it seemed that I didn't know it well enough to know that killing people can get you in serious trouble, so I spent the majority of my time up there as a serial killer, but you know that much." We exited the park gates and made our way towards home. The giant structure in the distance served as both a happy memory and a terrifying one. If dad didn't like my excuse I could be exiled form here and never be allowed to return… shit. Oh well, I better come up with a good excuse, or I could just not show myself to dad.

"What's that?" Lucy pointed toward the same structure I was thinking about.

"Home!" I smiled widely as her face turned into one of disbelief.

"You live in that!? It's larger than my father's old mansion!" her mouth hung open making me chuckle.

"Well, where did you think the son of Satan would live? Down here I'm practically a prince. But the kingdom doesn't see the heir… for eighty years. In reality I should still be living here in the lap of luxury. Dad kicked me out early. Haaa, this explanation should wait until we get home. Let's just let you say goodbye to Sting for now. Oh yeah, if he asks, you drank my spit voluntarily okay?" I gave her a curt nod and we carried on our way up the hill, her asking questions about the sights and shops and me answering them.

* * *

As we came to the gates of the palace I call home we stopped, facing a dilemma.

"How do we get in?" I turned to Rogue who just looked back at me. I thought he was being unusually chatty earlier. Guess he's all spoken out…

"Why can't we just walk in through the front door? I thought you said this was your home?" Lucy looked at me perplexed. Her reasoning was understandable.

"When I went up to earth, I vowed not to come back unless I had good reason. It's tradition. I can't really be bothered to think up a good excuse so we need to sneak in." I shrugged then looked back to Rogue.

"The back." He turned around and began to head towards the barracks. Sting was a member of the weird, messed up military we have down here, so I guess he's back there. Rogue seemed to be headed for the kitchen area out back. I used to sneak out there to grab snacks during the night, I was usually caught by Sting who had duty down there before he was promoted though.

"Good thinking, but won't someone be on watch? No one down here is trustworthy and gossip will spread like wildfire." I asked Rogue pointedly. All he did was shake his head.

As we came to the door, I took a huge gulp and stepped through in tow. No one but us was present. "Where's the thing on duty?" I looked around trying to see if it was sleeping or just in a cupboard somewhere nearby.

"I'm right here." I was slightly surprised when Rogue said this. I knew that.

"Yeah, dude I know."

"No, I'm on duty. Caeus is going to be mad that I didn't show up." He shook his head again and looked around the room. He walked towards the cleaning cupboard on the far left of the room and stepped in, leaving me and Lucy alone. Oh right, Lucy's still here.

"Haha, I actually forgot you were here." I suddenly pointed out. Her cheeks puffed out slightly and turned pink.

"That's lovely." She then punched me in the face. I hissed out of pain and looked to her, hurt. "Haha, I nearly forgot how retarded your face is, funny right?" Despite her words no look of joy was present.

"Sorry, I just got wrapped up in the excitement of being home. What do you think of it so far?" I looked around myself, becoming reacquainted with the memories this room alone held.

"It's… dark, and red." She didn't sound too enthusiastic. "The 'Blood Rivers' are cool though. Probably dirty and undrinkable though."

"The blood in those rivers is what runs through our taps, look." I walked over to one of the sinks by the back door and turned the only tap. A slightly sludgy, red liquid came falling out. "It gets filtered obviously; all the organs and shit are removed. Those then get rinsed and sent to the butchers. We recycle here too, even though we don't have to. We don't have any environmental issues here, seeing as the air is already carbon dioxide. I guess if we had living plants down here or if the carbon started being absorbed by the blood we might have an oxygen issue but its fine." I shrugged but Lucy seemed intrigued.

"So the atmosphere is comprised mainly of carbon dioxide… wait so how am I breathing?" She started to panic but I just laughed.

"The spit you drank, that allows you to breathe it, reverses your circulation cycle. It also gives you a temporary ability to run off of carbon in place of oxygen. Pretty clever if you ask me." Lucy seemed to be enjoying the trivia. It was then though that Rogue came back in with what looked a bit like costumes.

"Here, disguises." I took both and handed one to Lucy. When I got a better look at what I had been given I realized that it was a staff uniform. It included one of the masks they have to wear in order to keep the soldiers from getting distracted. Seeing as most of the 'Military' people were halflings or human looking demons, seeing something as foul as the face of a demon was extremely unsettling.

"Nice thinking." I quickly slipped into mine, completing the look by adjusting the mask over my face. As I finished Lucy was just about to put her mask on. "Don't take it off until I tell you to, okay." She nodded as she brought her mask down over her face. We were unrecognizable. The only things that you could see which distinguished us were our eyes. That's gonna be a problem. "I'm gonna have to avoid eye contact of all kinds and stay as far away from others as I can. Aren't I?" I looked to Rogue, who nodded.

"They are very unique, that will be a problem." He sighed and rubbed his temples.

"It's fine, I'll just be careful." I smiled and gave him a 'thumbs up', even if he couldn't see the smile, he could tell my expression by looking at my eyes. They do tell the secrets of the soul after all. Or whatever I have inside of me.

"I don't think I can trust you," His voice was bland and unamused. "but we'll have to make do. Let's go." He started towards the door and opened it for us. We followed with precaution, myself looking for anyone surrounding. The halls were still very tall, very bland and very cold.

"It's freezing." Lucy's voice came through my ears very quietly. I just nodded and carried on ahead. Some familiar faces popped up and some new as well. I had been gone three years after all.

We turned a corner and entered through a door which opened on a small, abandoned staircase.

"I never asked, what's wrong with your eyes?" Lucy seized the opportunity to ask me more questions.

"I have the eyes of a royal; the onyx colour has only ever been found in the royal bloodline. One of the reasons my ancestor was permitted to take over." We carried on our ascent, which seemed to last forever, until Rogue stopped in front of one of the doors lining the staircase.

"Here, this is where he was moved to after returning." Rogue quietly informed us. So he'd been de-ranked after leaving. Guess he must be unfamiliar with any new formalities people of his status needed to know.

We followed Rogue in to find none other than Sting himself pacing around the room. He seemed to be flustered, muttering to himself constantly. He had a strange way of dealing with things like worry and panic. Usually with violence or order, the way someone or something of his rank would.

"Hey Rogue what's up?" He looked in our direction briefly then back to floor. "Oh, you two can um… get to work. Do whatever you do." He waved his hand in our direction as he kept on pacing. When we didn't move he looked back, slightly annoyed. "Did you not hear me? Get to work!" He was not in a good mood. He looked at us, finally landing on me, looking me in the eye. He was angry at first but soon his face turned to one of shock.

"The knife lit up." Rogue explained quickly. Sting suddenly started to laugh; he then walked up to me and pulled the mask off of my head. My pink hair came falling out messily and my face started to lose some of the pink caused by the heat. Boy those masks are stuffy.

"Hey dude, how ya' been?" I flashed him a cheesy grin and ran my hand through my hair, doing my best to tame it; if only a little. I nudged Lucy beside me, signalling that it's okay to remove the mask. She did so and took a huge sigh, her face also losing the colour the heat put in her face.

"Lucy…" Sting took a deep breath and began to wring his hands nervously. "It's been a while huh?"

"Yeah… it has." She chuckled nervously. The atmosphere became increasingly awkward and it seemed that the two weren't entirely comfortable in each other's presence.

"This is weird." Sting let out, sighing. He went over to sit on his bed and held his head in his hands. Lucy went over to sit next to him allowing me to have a look at the room. I'd never been in this area before so it was interesting to see more. It was a small accommodation, reminded me strongly of Lucy's apartment, except smaller, and without the kitchen. There was a bed by the window at the back of the room and a huge armoire off to the right. On the left wall was a door that appeared to lead to the bathroom. The whole place would have been extremely bland were it not for the huge mess that littered the room.

"It was nice seeing you again though." Lucy's saddened voice brought me back to the situation as she said what sounded like a goodbye.

"Yeah, I might come back up for a visit in a few years. I'm gonna want to say a quick 'Hi' to everyone else. I did just disappear after all." He gave a slight chuckle as he squeezed Lucy's hand. It always amazed me at how mature these two handled their relationship. Lucy stood up and started to put her mask back on.

"Shall we go then?" She looked at me and Rogue cheerfully. We nodded in unison and watched as she exited the room.

"See ya 'round dude." I waved to him cheerfully.

"Natsu…" Sting stopped me in my tracks, I turned around to look at him, "Take care of Lucy for me, I know you will… well. See ya." It saddened me to see one of the most boisterous people I've ever know like this. He seemed depressed and stressed and all over the place.

"Yeah, don't tear your hair out, k?" He smiled and nodded at my advice as I turned around and left the room myself. Unfortunately though, I had planned to put my mask back on when I was out of the room. It was bad because outside, was someone else besides Rogue or Lucy.

"Whoa! Natsu! Long-time no see man!" Coming down the stairs was a young soldier I recalled as being in training with until I was about twelve, which was when I moved onto hard-core human research. Shit.

"Um… hey?" I felt my palms become sweaty as I clenched my hands into fists. I was basically flooding the room. Before I knew what was happening I was being dragged down the stairs by this guy who had his arm around my shoulder. I looked back to a panicking Lucy and Rogue and mouthed "HELP!"

**Okay, so i realize that that probably isn't one of the best chapters I've ever written and it had a ton of room for description to be added but I wanted to get this out before mum sent my laptop off to the repairman. I'll get the next one out soon. Hopefully. Anyway, concerning future stories, I planned on making two new stories. The contents will be one shots of which I will update to if I have something kicking around or if I'm bored and have some inspiration. trust me, recently I've gained plenty of inspiration and have plenty to write about. So I'll be back with some new as soon as possible!**

**DONT FORGET TO REVIEW! (^w^)This was Alpha, thanks for reading and thanks for all the fish!  
**


	11. Chapter 11

**I think I owe you guys an apology. It has been **_**so **_**long since I updated here and I feel bad about it. There is actually a reason though, I sort of fell out with Fairy Tail. I don't really stay up to date and I haven't advanced in it for so long it's crazy (I can assure you my friends are a little pissed about that). Anyway, I was determined to finish this after going through my emails last night and reading a really nice review I saved the email I got about it. It made me feel amazing, thanks PandaPiggy, you're awesome. (Haa, I nearly put in a Hetalia reference barely anyone would get.) Okay, ENJOY!**

_**~~Lucy POV~~**_

We just stood and watched as Natsu got dragged off down the stairs, not entirely sure on what to do. As he went out of sight I looked up to Rogue who had his head in his hands.

"What are we gonna do now?" I asked tentatively. Rogue ran his hands through his hair before looking at the wall. "Rogue…?" I asked again, wondering if he hadn't heard me. It was then that he turned back to the door and walked in again.

"Sting; we have a problem."

"Yeah, what's wrong?"

"Natsu was found." You could see the stun hit Sting's face as his eyes widened and he went rigid. I could tell this was bad, and I realized that I should have taken Natsu's earlier comment more seriously. Well; his dad _is_ Satan so he probably wouldn't be forgiving if someone disobeyed an order… yeah this could be pretty bad.

"I guess we need to get him out of here before Lord Igneel finds out." He turned to find me still here. "You can take that off now Lucy; I guess it doesn't really matter anymore." He sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets before stepping out of the room and making his way down the stairs.

I tangled with the disguise and tore it off, running down the stairs right after I threw it to the floor, the mask still on. I soon caught up and we rushed through the halls, the draughty stone walls letting in cold air which felt colder with the extra layer of clothing now discarded. "Where are we going?" I pulled on Sting's uniform, trying to get his attention.

"The common room." That wasn't much of an answer, how was I supposed to know where that was or what it looked like? I guess panic banished all kinds of logic in some people.

After turning a corner we came to a large, deep chocolate, polished door, without even a scratch on the glossy paint. It seemed that this room was highly valued and looked after… at least that was the impression from the outside. Sting threw the doors open and my impression instantly changed, seeing all of the soldiers lounging about and litter all over the place. Despite that it looked extremely comfortable. Figures dressed in the same get up as I was in before were dotted about the room, apparently earning their keep.

Seeing them quickly made me remember that I still had the mask on and I promptly tore it off. I soon realized that it was a bad idea because as I did so every head in the room turned my way, including those meant to stay as backdrop. I let the black cloth drop to the floor as I stood there awkwardly, shuffling very slowly to position myself behind Sting.

One of the soldiers stood up and approached. He wasn't that much bigger than the two men in front of me but somehow he was much more intimidating. He stood in front of me and bent over to my level, looking me directly in the eye. "What in hell are you?" His nose scrunched up as he examined me. _Do they not have female halflings? What about Wendy, she's a girl isn't she?_

"Back off. She is of no concern to you." Rogue snarled as Sting just stood his ground. I won't lie, it was terrifying.

"She…? Are you serious? You caught one?" The whole room's aura seemed to instantaneously change from hostility to excitement as all of the other halflings got to their feet and crowded around us, gawking at me like an animal behind bars. "How did you even get it? You've been back three months!?"

"You have no concern in her affairs. She belongs to the crown prince." My eyes widened as the sentence left his mouth and he pushed me behind both him and Rogue. _What was that supposed to mean?_

"Speaking of Natsu, has he been here recently?" Rogue asked the now disbanding crowd.

"Um… no?" A few of the soldiers started to mutter amongst themselves. "_I_ saw him a little while back just outside with someone else. They continued down the hall, he looked a bit uncomfortable though."

"Thanks, we'll be going then guys." And with that I was pushed hurriedly out of the room, not entirely sure what just happened. I'm sure that back up top I would have been a bit crankier in that situation. I am _not_ a zoo animal.

Once back out in the hall I was dragged along by a pair of extremely panicked halflings. At some point the two broke out into a sprint, letting go of my arm leaving me to run after them. Soon enough we reached a way larger door, painted pitch black with red metal making the door handles and stretching out in strange patterns from the hinges.

Looking up to the two guys again, they seemed to have paled and were working up the courage to open the door. It certainly looked important and grand. "Guys, what's behind the door?"

"…His highness."

* * *

_**~~Natsu POV~~**_

You could hear the noise from my teeth grinding together, as I was pulled through the halls by the hyperactive soldier who had recognised me from training. Then again, who forgets the face of a member of the royal family? The young halfling was nattering on about this and that and I was trying to block it out until he stopped and exclaimed, "We need to take you to your dad!"

I felt my blood run cold whereas he seemed happy with himself and proceeded to pull me in another direction. I had to think of something fast before we reached the throne room. "That's really not necessary, I'm sure he doesn't want to see me for another eighty two years. That's when I'm scheduled to be back, and you know dad and his organising." I laughed nervously.

"Nonsense! You need to see him, I bet he missed you." _Dear lord how are you even a member of the army? You should have died _years_ ago. My father is quite literally _Satan_ you asshat!_ He continued to drag me through the halls, winding through passage ways. It didn't take long to reach the giant door that led through to the execution chamber. It isn't really the execution chamber, that's a few floors down, it's just the throne room but it might as well be an execution chamber as I'm about to _die _there;in the literal sense.

The doors were slowly pulled open after my 'captor' knocked on the doors. The extravagant room littered with deep shades of red came into view; the thrones at the opposite end of the room looked tiny from here. "You may approach." The loud booming voice reached us clearly and I was reluctantly pulled towards it.

The speaker came into view, his face stone cold and the stare in his eyes piercing into my being. The fear that was lying under the surface previously; now bursting free and forcing me to rigidly stand up straight as we came to a halt. "Son."

"Father," I replied and bowed low, procedures of greeting my father scorched into my brain by now. I watched as he stood up and descended the few stairs to come face to face with me. I straightened my back again and looked up at the intimidating man.

"I do believe you shouldn't be home for another eighty two years." _I knew it._ "Do you have an excuse?" All of the possible ones whizzed around and around my head, trying to sort the plain shit ones from the possibly true ones.

"Well… you see, dad, I just…" However I was interrupted by the loud creaking of the doors. Everyone in the room turned to look in that direction and as the black pulled back to reveal three small figures; at least they were small from over here. I couldn't tell who it was until they approached at the beckoning of dad's _loud_ voice. In this proximity, it was deafening. "GUYS!? Don't bring Lucy _here_, you idiots!" I exclaimed, astounded at their stupidity.

I stared at the three who had just approached. Rogue and Sting just shrugged while Lucy, who looked terrified, looked at my father cautiously, quite obviously trying not to stare.

"Lucy?" I heard the questioning tone from behind me and winced at the thought of what he's going to do. "You brought a girl?" I nodded gingerly, barely making any movement; although I knew he could see it. He approached her before bowing. "It's a pleasure to meet such a beautiful creature." The blush crept up Lucy's neck and protectiveness overtook my fear of consequences.

"Stop it Dad, she's none of your business," I growled harshly at the man I knew very well could kill me on the spot.

"Oh son, don't be so simple minded. I was just complimenting the rarity of the underworld." He smiled knowingly before stepping back so he could see the other two and bowing low. Lucy's blush grew darker and reached further up her face.

"Um… w-well thank you, your majesty," she thanked him meekly, quite obviously terrified.

"Dad I said stop!" I ran up to the small group and pushed him away from her cautiously, trying not to show too much violence.

I looked up at my father. I could see anger flash in his eyes before they softened and he began to laugh boisterously. "No need to get so defensive. I know better than anyone when to stay away from other people's property." A shock of electricity ran through me at the thought, before the embarrassment and panic settled in.

"NO! No, Lucy doesn't belong to anyone; she's her own person. Most girls are now, stop being so old." I pouted, trying to pass it off as childish behaviour that always seemed to win him over. To my utter relief, he just laughed again and slapped me on the back, _hard. _

"Of course she is." He just winked at me.

Rolling my eyes, I walked over to Lucy and took her by the hand; gently pulling out from behind Sting and Rogue. They had visibly calmed down, noticing that my father was in a decent mood.

"Lucy, this is my father. Lord Igneel, King, or overlord if you prefer, of the Underworld aka Hell." I watched as he looked up at him timidly before curtseying low in respect.

"It's a pleasure to meet you sir."

"Likewise, Madame." It was weird for my dad to be so polite; he bowed again, delicately taking Lucy's hand and kissing the top of it. The blush violently returned, unsurprisingly. "I'm sure both you and my son would accept my offer to joining me for dinner this evening before you both return to the surface." Damn him.

"Um… err… Natsu?" She turned to me confused, not sure what to say. Doing what came naturally after fifteen years of dealing with the man, I swooped in.

"That would be lovely, father, we would be honoured. However I think everyone would appreciate some time to get adjusted to the environment as well as a change of clothes, preferably ones that are normal and modern here."

"Sounds great, you go do that. Dinner is in the grand dining hall at seven sharp, don't be late." He slapped me on the back again before turning back to the throne. "You are dismissed."

Sighing in relief, I grabbed Lucy's hand again and dragged her out of the throne room, Sting and Rogue close on our tail. The doors closed noisily behind us.

"So dinner in hell," Lucy contemplated. "Not many people can say they've had that." I chuckled, enjoying the new take on it. Most of my old friends were scared half to death by the prospect of a meal with my father.

"We'll be getting back to work I guess…" Sting scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Yeah, thanks for the help. I can get us home from this side. Seriously though, thanks." I grinned, shook Rogue's hand and patted Sting on the back before letting them say goodbye to Lucy and get back to their militarian lives.

* * *

"Here, I found some!" I yelled to Lucy who was on the other side of the room, searching through a large chest. She looked up and rushed over, peering into the closet of which I was going through from over my shoulder.

"Great, I can get ready. But don't I need make up?" She shoved me aside and started to pick through the female formal wear.

"I dunno, probably not. There as so few girls ever down here that there aren't _that_ many things to use, even here in the most luxurious place in the whole dimension." I just shrugged, closing a large, grand chest and sitting on it while watching Lucy look at dresses in amongst all of the cloth.

"You guys really do sexualise your women, everything is so revealing," she tutted, inspecting a really long, black piece of cloth. "This isn't even a dress; you just wrap it around yourself and hope it doesn't fall off, not to mention that it's only three metres long."

"I'm sure you'd rock it, no matter what it is." I noticed the small blush that dusted her cheeks before realizing what I just said. I couldn't take it back so we just carried on in silence until she had finished finding what she wanted.

She turned around to face me and nodded, indicating that she was finished. I got up and lead the way back out of the door and to the living quarters of the palace. "I wonder how long it's been since anyone was up in my rooms," I mused absentmindedly, as we pushed the large doors open.

Lucy rolled her eyes at the sight of more halls. "How many hallways are there in this place?"

"Enough for Dad to incorporate every piece of metal work and military award he could lay his hands on into the decoration of this place."

After a few seconds of silence Lucy broke it. "You made your father out to be a cruel, aggressive man. He seemed perfectly friendly and jubilant to me." She pointed out as we made our way through the corridor leading to my room.

"Oh, he's all those things. He _is_ the king of Hell but he's still my dad. He wasn't exactly a bad father just he has a short, fiery temper. And when the fuse burns out… well who knows what will happen." I pretty much _had_ made him out to be vicious and scary 24/7, I could have probably laid off looking back on it but still, I didn't like to make him mad; for obvious reasons.

I opened another room which actually led to a room: _my_ room. It was gigantic with a large four poster bed and comfortable, silky covers draped over it. As I expected though, there was a thick layer of dust coating everything. Therefore I had to go around blowing the grime off of everything and opening windows to let it fly out.

"What's this place gonna look like in another eighty years?" Lucy speculated, watching me as I went around trying to clean up a little bit.

"Good question, maybe I should ask someone to clean it once a year… or at least cover the furniture," I agreed, sitting on the bed after giving up. "Are you going to want to camp out in the bathroom or something? I must warn you that you can't have a proper shower or wash."

Lucy stared at me, slightly unamused and shook her head. "I sort of got that from the lack of running water." However instead of asking where the bathroom was she came to sit next to me. "Why are females so rare down here? Wendy's a halfling and _she's_ a girl."

"They just are. If Wendy _was_ born and raised here she'd be a prized treasure. She'd be displayed like a main attraction at an art gallery that things down here would flock from far and wide to see her. It's a shame really, but she'd know no different…" I trailed off.

"That's horrible."

"Yeah, but you're probably the only human, not to mention a human _female, _down here right now. It's a pretty big deal for everyone else, even dad." I nearly went on but realised that if I did the conversation would get just as awkward as earlier.

"What's the time?"

"Um…" I looked over to the really complicated, large clock hanging on the far wall. "In your understanding of time I'd say… five thirty or there about." She nodded before looking down at the clothes in her arms.

"I'd better go get ready then; an hour and a half is barely enough time." She chuckled and rose to her feet. "Where's the bathroom?"

"Go out the door, turn left. It's the second door on the right." She nodded and approached the door. Before she went out of view she pointed two of her fingers in a salute like wave.

"See ya."

"Bye." I stretched and fell back on the bed, watching the dust particles fly up all around me. Coughing, I sat back up, regretting the action, and got to my feet too. _Guess it's my turn to get ready. Urgh, I just hope dad doesn't over react or say something stupid._

* * *

**Anyway, I hope this suffices and I will try to get the next chapter out soon, I hate to make this abs****olutely shitty but the next chapter will probably be the last one. I was reading back on the story and yeah, the quality of this one is probably a bit better. Also, so you know (you probably don't care but still) the reason I stopped was because my life started literally revolving around other things. Anyway, yeah, I'll try to get the last chapter out ASAP; especially while it's the Easter holidays. So this was Alpha, so long and thanks for all the fish!**


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